


Tolko, Tolko Dlja Tebja

by Patchouli



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dark Star - Freeform, Domestic Fluff, Found Family, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Memory Loss, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Odyssey Timeline, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pulsefire - Freeform, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, Swearing, Temporary Amnesia, Touch-Starved, smut in later chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:48:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 33,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26975398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Patchouli/pseuds/Patchouli
Summary: Step 1: Don't follow the advice of a mad girlStep 2: Fail
Relationships: Khada Jhin/Thresh
Comments: 22
Kudos: 107





	1. The Pretty Thing That Lives in this House

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JellyJames](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JellyJames/gifts).



“Dear god, the smell is awful. Don’t you notice?”

What followed was a resigning sigh. “No.”

“Don’t you have a nose? It smells like a fucking brothel in here.” 

“I am indignant by the fact that such a fine lady like yours is familiar with such an occurrence.”

There was an amused but short-living giggle. “Grand Admiral, was that sarcasm?” 

“Be quiet now. I would prefer the reason we might get caught and thrown in the pits of hell is not the unstoppable force you call your mouth.”

“You want us getting caught?” 

“No, I …” He stopped in the middle of his explanation because he realized it would lead to a never ending conversation if he dared to continue their ridiculous talk. Instead he tried for a different approach which compromised plainly to distract the woman with a new subject of far more importance. “Tell me where to go next, would you?”, he asked as calm and polite as he was able to do in such a precarious situation they were currently stuck within. Thresh knew he needed to trust in her set of skills and the invaluable asset of the knowledge of these buildings. No one else was able to guide the two of them through the contorted and seemingly endless corridors of a demaxian citadel. Jinx, Pilot of the Morning Star had sneaked into the vaults of these flying strongholds more than a sane person would dare and she was known for blowing up a various number of them too. Unfortunately, Jinx was not known for her reliability or sharp focus. She was reckless, impatient and the worst of all: She was very loud and talkative. 

Jinx unfolded the swiftly drawn sketch of her map once more to study it with a very fleeting look. She frowned for a moment, before turning the map inside her hands with an unsettling amount of attempts, before she finally decided to answer. “If I am right and … I am of course always right, right behind that corner and … one of these doors. I guess.” She pointed in the direction as to support her own instructions. 

He narrowed his eyes behind the visor of his helmet in suspicion. “You guess?”

She shrugged lax and stuffed the map back into one of her pockets. “I never was here before. This place is strange. Giving me bad vibes, like someone would say.” A tinge of disgust rushed upon her face before she was back to grinning eagerly and unnecessarily excited. 

“Oh great”, he said neither entirely sarcastic nor enthusiastic. It was at minimum the sound of nothing more than harsh disappointment. 

“Aww, trust me. I know what I do! … Well, mostly!” This was, he had to admit, not reassuring at all. Gladly when it came to such insidious actions he trusted in his own skills firstly and the talents of the ones surrounding him secondly. She looked curiously around and admired their surroundings as if she hadn't ever been in such a place before and according to her low span of attention that could be the case in any given moment. “Now, tell me, what does the Cosmic Court need a Dark Star artifact for?” Jinx asked with a tattling tone of voice like she was about to offer some biscuits to afternoon tea and not trying to discuss the highly secrets behind the reasons of their mission. 

“This is none of your business, Miss”, he answered firmly; knowing very well by now that simply avoiding her curiosity was merely impossible. In the last few hours she had the guts to bombard him with all kinds of questions and it was a hideous task to turn a deaf ear to her. 

“You betcha!” She snapped. “It is my business very well, if I have to risk my life for it.” And for a moment Thresh believed he saw a glimpse of concern in the wide madness of her eyes. 

Thresh considered if he should bluntly lie to her or tell her the truth. Both options were equally unpleasant for he didn’t know what purpose exactly the artifact promised to fulfill. Rumors had it that it was capable of controlling the mind of every living creature in the entire universe. The power of it’s compulsion shall be so strong and unbearable it would be easy to conquer and enslave the entire galaxy with incredible speed in no time. The possibility alone was reason enough for the Cosmic Court to insist on the saving of such a powerful relic and there was no doubt to believe it wouldn’t contain such a great ability. The only thing to assume right now was the hope that the Demaxians hadn’t already decrypted all the forgotten and baleful mysteries of some ancient gods. “Whatever it is, would you want them to be in charge of it?”, he finally replied.

Jinx fell silent for a moment to brood over his question. Suddenly the absence of her continuous chatter felt heavy. The silence down here was uncanny and oddly thick and it bore the image that the air itself held a bone-crushing weight on it’s own. He remembered what she had told about the terrible smell that would linger around and wondered if this feeling had something to do with it. Thresh kept in mind to better not find out and that this wasn’t the purpose of their presence down here. 

She finally beamed with a smile full of teeth. “I don’t know if I would like the idea of your pals being in charge of it either. No offense.” 

Thresh remained silent. She had a good point though. 

*  
They turned around the exact corner as she had told and they found themselves in another corridor that looked similar to the same they were once before. It dawned to him that, if he had to find his way by his own through this maze of dark passages, he would be absolutely lost and he wasn’t sure if the mere fact that being at the mercy of her combination of memory and skill was enough to follow her blindly deeper into the rabbit hole. Albeit he had no other choice than to trust Jinx and he hoped she would at least contain enough common sense to have an interest in surviving this whole mission for herself if not for them both.

A strange sensation ran through him as his mind formed the question why it had to be so absolutely dark in here. The second, more alarming question that came to his mind, was why no one seemed to be down here to guard this place. If the artifact was supposed to be here, it would make sense to ensure a much higher security but the whole place seemed like almost forgotten or rarely used. 

From the decor alone he assumed it must be some kind of place only occasionally visited with a very specific reason. Thresh could only guess about the meaning of such ornaments and engravings for he hadn’t seen something like that before but he had a vague and absurdly unpleasant assumption he would rather not want to know the irrevocably truth. The hints were so undeniably intrusive trying to push on to him that it was hardly possible to look for another explanation. It filled him to the brim with a haunting dread he hadn’t felt for ages. The nauseous scent lingering in the heavy and stale air Jinx had mentioned earlier, the lack of security along their way down here, the strange and irritating darkness aside from the dim light that had sometimes passed their way in the shape of antique seeming lamps, the unsettling and almost awing silence and the mere absence of life. 

They were deep inside the heart of a sepulcher. 

The more he thought about it the more it seemed to make sense to him but it raised another question even more disquieting than just the revelation of their current location. Why did the Demaxian Empire need a burial chamber under one of their citadels? What was the purpose to have such a place decorated and stuffed out with fine draped detailing with no other task than to look obviously quaint? And furthermore but nonetheless worrying was the question that came right after. Who would they want to bury down here? 

Her voice yanked him out of his racing thoughts. “If i am correct it’s right behind these doors”, she said while pointing into the dark hallway in front of them and in a sudden and unpredictable rush of thrill she started to quicken her steps. 

“Jinx, stop!” It was all he could manage to say for he failed to make an attempt to prevent her ill-considered decision. She was surprisingly quick and her profession of being a loose criminal on the run came with the advantage of sharpening her instincts. It was easy for her to simply dodge out of the way of his hand before he had the chance to grab her. She ran hastily into the unnatural darkness not even his lantern was able to illuminate enough. 

Quickly he was chasing after her. For many reasons, but being seperated in such an ominous place filled with lots of potential danger was definitely his priority. And he needed her to guide them safely back to the surface. 

He found her in front of a big and massive looking double door made of something that raised astonishment in him. Apparently it reminded him of wood which could not be the case at all. They were still in the heart of a spaceship and any kind of organic material would be not only impractical but nearly impossible to obstruct and combine with everything that held the ability to facilitate manned spaceflight. It must be something entirely different; very old and unspecific. Something that should rather be forgotten and whoever found it down here in the first place had no clue what kind of ancient evil it was about to behold. 

Jinx seemed to be no difference in her ignorance as she was about to recklessly give the doorknob a try. “What? It’s locked.” She sounded like she was sincerely disappointed to stand right in front of an old and eldritch door only to find it locked. 

“Can your rampaging mind take a moment to consider where exactly we are in?”, he asked while he felt frustration and anger rise inside of him. Thresh was sure he was about to lose his patience because of her constant carelessness sooner or later. 

She looked at him puzzled like he was the one known for losing his mind from time to time in the most strait situations. Then she brushed it off with another shrug. “Uhhh ...Some kind of vault I would say? Why do you even ask?” Her voice, a mixture of cluelessness and excitement. Thresh wondered if it wouldn’t be by far more advisable to inform her about his vague yet still dubious discovery downright, but he realized soon enough he hadn’t the time or energy and Jinx was lagging the willingness to listen to any of his concerns anyway. Whatever he would tell her with the intention to awake her wariness would just lead to the disappointing opposite of fueling her inquisitiveness. She would rather run head over heels into unimaginable but nonetheless dangerous chaos as to follow his orders. 

“This … seems not right”, he said out loud; commenting the misery of her personality which would doom them both and the possibly upcoming plight of their current situation equally. 

Jinx gave him a look; impatient she rolled with her eyes. “What? You wanna back off now? Do you guys want this artifact or not? Make up your mind!” She demanded cocky and sighed in frustration. Thresh would not dare to express his compliance over her words, but she was right. They came so far and he couldn’t risk coming back to the Queen with empty hands. Her royalty was not in a good shape, not to say she was awing unstable in the current times and if he was about to lose his head once and for all he would rather choose his fate and die in such hideous catacombs instead of being a victim to her rage for he knew she would do things far worse with everyone she proclaimed a failure. 

He stepped back and gave her a brief gesture to indicate to continue. “I hope you don’t have in mind to blast it open”, he said as it came to his mind that she has a tendency to solve problems and break through all obstacles with brute force and the help of some highly explosive rampage. 

Jinx gave him a weird look that seemed as if he had insulted her deeply. “Who do you think I am? I’m not that crazy, jeez.” After giving of a sound of annoyance, she studied the door and the lock thoughtfully for a moment. A smile lit up her face as she finally came up with an idea. Eagerly she reached for a hairpin that was about to hold back some of the loose wisps of hers and started her work immediately before Thresh could intervene with the apprehension that lockpicking an centuries-old alien door was not the smartest thought. 

“I need more light.”  
While she was already working with the lock and there was no going back from now on, he decided to follow her command and held the lantern closer to her. “What would you have done, if I wouldn’t be here to open that door for you?”, she asked, already back to chattering almost overwhelmingly satisfied with herself. 

Thresh curled his lips into a weak smile and was thankful she wasn’t able to notice his loss of countenance. “Blast it open.” 

She grinned widely before she finally stepped aside after hearing a familiar sounding clicking. 

*

The room they entered was small with a narrow ceiling. Slightly more lit than the hallways they were before by natural, open light from ornate candelabra. The woozy candlelight was so bright in comparison he had to blink against it several times before he was able to give the whole setting a clearer look. Even now he could feel something was terribly off; from the sweeping ornaments they already invested before to the incense altar, surrounded by indescribable objects he would simply define as trinkets. Everything rose the certainty they were in a place so uncanny that he wasn’t even longer sure if his early assumption about just tumbling in the inside of a burial chamber was still applicable. But as soon as they led eyes on the corpse in the center of the room, lifelessly resting on what appeared to be some kind of altar, he had no doubt to not believe this could be anything else. 

“Eww, this room reeks!” He gave her a thoughtful look while she was about to cover her face with one of her hands in desperate need to stop this mysterious smell from crawling in her nose. Maybe this was the origin for the scent she complained earlier about and judging from her face twisting in disgust Thresh was actually very glad the filters of his helmet were capable to prevent him from such a misfortune. It made sense and now that he thought about it all over again, what she described could be just a very heavy mixture of decay and ointment. Still he couldn’t ignore the fact that it deprived all logic why someone would insist in burying someone down here in such an outdated and old-fashioned way. 

“Then we better hurry.”, he answered finally and tried to be reassuring enough that she would withstand her frustration just a little longer. 

They searched the room but aside from the naked and lifeless body in the middle of the room there was nothing to be found of value. With disappointment Thresh had to realize that the artifact was not here and he hoped the others in the vault on the other side of the ship would have far more luck than they currently seemed to face. This place right here turned out to be nothing more than a strange looking, fancy tomb and it appeared they only had distrubed the peace of death. Thresh was not a very superstitious man, but he had the decency to feel awful when it came to his mind that he had just disgraced the dead. 

He was about to exclaim that they were definitely done with all of this and that it would be the best option if they were about to leave as quickly as possible, when he felt Jinx’ poking a finger hesitantly in his rips. “What is it?”, he asked less patiently and more frustrated about the fact that all of this was just a waste of time than her inappropriate approach to catch his attention. 

“Uhhh, Grand Admiral I am about to inform you that … this corpse is breathing.”

He prevented himself from rolling his eyes about her inanities. He had no time for the nonsense of an easily scared woman starting to see things in the dark. “I think the smell must make you see things, mad girl.” 

“No! Look for yourself, you smug fool!” She almost yelled in alarming discomfort and it was enough for him to at least commit to her pleading. 

He followed her gaze and he wished he did not. 

In the dim light it couldn’t be noticed at first but the longer they peered at the body the more it was clear that the chest was undoubtedly rising and falling in a steady manner. Soft and weak like someone would take shallow breaths when drifting in deep slumber. The sight on its own was gauntly enough to decide that their journey had indeed found their very end. No more minute he wanted to spend down here in this ancient hell hole and whatever this was supposed to mean he didn’t dare to find out. 

“I think we are done here”, he said surprisingly calmly but did not dare to look away so soon. Now that they had the certainty the man was still alive, it was also very possible that he could awake in any given moment and this was something he truly didn’t want to witness. Still there was the disturbing apprehension creeping down his spine that the body might rise the moment he stopped watching. It was ridiculous to even think about it and he knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help himself. 

“Wait!” 

He would pray to the old gods that her voice was by far more disturbing than any eldritch horror could ever be. Thresh snapped out of his state of what he supposed must have been nothing else than lazily rising frenzy and looked at her. “What is it, Miss?””, he asked, torn between confusion and annoyance. 

Jinx’ gaze switched unsure between him and the body a few times before she finally spoke her mind. “Shouldn’t we … take him with us? He does seem, you know, not well?” 

Thresh had the urge to pinch the brick of his nose and was glad his helmet was preventing him from simply giving in to such a task. He knew she would be everything from imprudent to even suicidal if the risk was just delightful enough to tease her venturesome disposition, but now she was completely out of her mind. Whatever it was she continuously inhaled in these corridors had driven her utterly mad. Instead of voicing such kinds of concerns, he answered. “This is none of our business.” This was an understatement, but it was true. The artifact was not here and whatever slept beside them right now could rot down here. 

“But he seems to need … well, i don’t know? Help?”

“I said no prisoners.”

“Does already look like a prisoner in the first place, if you ask me.” She was right and he hated that she, of all people, was actually right. Even though he wanted to let the man stay here forever, he simply could not and he blamed his compassion and protective instinct for the foolish decision he was about to make. But he could not leave him here; for the obvious reason that no living person was safe in the hands of the Empire and the more Jinx insisted on rescuing him, the more it seemed clear to him, that this man was in some kind of danger. Maybe Jinx started to have a bad influence on him. This was the only plausible explanation he could give himself. 

Thresh sighed deeply. “I will regret this.”

She had the impropriety to nudge his side with her elbow, grinning encouraging and provoking while doing so. “Aww, come on! Whatever will go wrong?” He brushed her hand firmly aside and stepped closer at the altar. 

The man seemed young despite his height; pale and fragile nonetheless with soft features and small lips. It appeared to Thresh that he must be in a state of deep sleep because he was sure Jinx’ capability of being obnoxious loud would wake literally everyone from miles away. A small voice inside his mind screamed and tried to call upon his prudence and common sense. He could not blindly ignore the circumstance that whoever brought that man down here had a reason to do it and the only questions he had to give an answer to was too clear to be simply brushed off. Was he here to keep intruders out or to lock him in? 

Thresh took a mental note that he might get the chance for all of this later when they had made sure everyone of them was safe and sound. He hesitated for a moment before he took off his cape and wrapped the still sleeping man inside the fabric. It was not much but better than nothing and it would fulfill its purpose to cover him at least to spare him the shame waking up completely naked surrounded by strangers. Then he lifted him gently to carry him inside his arms. 

If Jinx was surprised by his sincerely decent act she failed to hide it but she was wise enough to not try to mock him. 

Suddenly there was a ground-shaking rumbling rolling over the entire chamber and the impact was so strong, Jinx almost lost her balance and Thresh had to make sure his grip around the man was strong enough that he did not accidently slip out of his arms. 

“What in the name of her majesty was that?”, he asked irritated but not entirely alarmed because he had an assumption about what exactly caused this enormous noise. The other group had just opened the vault at the other side of the ship. In a terrible attempt it seemed to be because now there was absolutely no doubt someone had noticed them.  
Dust fell from the ceiling and there was another sound, this time far more threatening than before. 

“Ow, I told these fools to just use one charge of my explosives! Seems like they used literally ALL of them!” Jinx yelled over the alerting crackling of bursting and aching metal. 

“Sir, I think we should hurry before this place collapses and we are actually getting buried down here!” 

Thresh didn’t need to be told twice.


	2. What Can You Expect of Fools?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *CW: Swearing

Getting inside the citadel was far easier than anyone of them had expected. After the home planet and former residence of the Demaxian Empire was completely destroyed long ago before he was even born a warrior, the entire remaining citizens were forced to live on the air amada they still were in charge of. They were more or less nomads living from conquest and subjugation, but once in a while they had to land on a small planet of their choice to refill their stocks with supplies, ressources and forced manpower. Just a small timeframe to sneak in while everyone of their garrison was busy with exploitation and scavenging. It took him weeks to study celestial maps and to calculate their potential route to pinpoint their next stay. 

Getting out was troublesome and dangerous but without incident. Thresh assumed the powerful explosion was collateral and alerting enough to be used as a great distraction from everything else that might be going on right now, which included Jinx and him trying to not get killed while being on the run. No one paid attention to them. The whole disaster caused such an immense turmoil in their ranks that even if they had seen them, none of them truly noticed. It was perfect; they sneaked out like nothing but silent shadows surrounded by the sounds of shrieking sirens and uncoordinated fuss. 

Finally back at the Deck of the Morning Star Jinx took her time to, what appeared to be the first attempt while they had worked together, show some of her few and far between prudence. Thresh watched her as she began to throw a great amount of litter and junk from one of the benches while muttering incomprehensible words. “This ship is in a terrible state.”, he dared to criticize. 

“Shut up, you're not my Captain”, she replied simply but couldn’t hide her annoyance. After she was finally done she gave it a shrug as if she was about to explain that’s all she can do for now and it wasn’t very hard to not believe her. This place was in a desperate need of cleaning. 

They put the mysterious man to rest and Jinx covered him with a blanket, stating that the cape alone wouldn’t be enough. Thresh agreed. 

“I hope Yas survives this so I can kick his lazy ass when he’s finally back!”, she said angry while throwing herself lax into a seat next to the map table. She groaned in frustration. It was something about her that made him come to the conclusion she was nervous if not truly worried. 

Thresh tried to be reassuring. “They will be fine.”

“Shut up.”

*

If Jinx was obnoxiously loud already at any given occasion then it was an understatement compared to the capability of her limits when she was utterly enraged. It was the mere definition of someone screaming at the tops of her lungs without even losing some of their breath while doing so. Her voice was not high-pitched as Thresh would have assumed, but raspy and roaring. And by the gods she was pissed. 

The moment the rest of the crew arrived at the ship she was on the loose and it seemed like no one would stop her. “What the fuck took you so long? What did I tell you about the explosives? You goddamn idiots! You could be all dead! Sona! Why didn’t you stop them!?” She yelled while gesturing wildly with her hands. Thresh had to confess she would make a good commander if it would come to put someone in their place. 

Sona gave a soft sigh; resigning and disappointed at the wording of her fellow crewmate and formed signs with her fingers which could be - even for someone like Thresh, who hadn’t a wide knowledge about the mute language she used to communicate, who was only able to translate the mere basics - only be interpreted as ‘Guess what?’. She had a strange and impressive talent to put sarcasm into her voiceless speaking, firstly because she was capable to form a very wide spectrum of facial and vivid expressions and further her use of power allowed her the ability to strew her own emotions right into the hearts of everyone who was brave enough to listen to her. 

“My bad.” Jinx fluted as if she was not concerned about her indecent obliviousness which discredited the mute woman just a moment ago and grinned amused. Like everything she said seemed so utterly funny to no one but herself and she was unable to tell anyone around her the reason behind. She leaned back in her chair, suddenly so calm that it was … frightening to tell the truth. 

Thresh decided it would be a vain and useless endeavor daring to understand the fickle mind of hers but Sona did not mind. She offered her a weak and forgiving smile before her face wrinkled in concern as the Captain of the Morning Star caught her attention. 

The Templar Lady rushed at his side quickly to narrow her eyes in deep concern. In a blink of an eye everyone followed her movement like she just discovered something of such seminal importance that it was indispensable to pay attention to her newly found detection. 

Yasuo looked in fact not well. He appeared to be disoriented; his eyes glazed and his face flushed. He looked at nothing in particular first as if he had completely dissociated from reality. Then he stared at them in disbelief before searching for any sign of confirmation in the room. Sweat was dripping from one of his eyebrows and he raised a hand to rub his face. Saliva was dripping from the corner of his mouth as he tried to open his lips to form words. 

Jinx wrinkled her face in aversion at the sight. “Ew, are you fucking drooling? Disgusting! Get yourself together, old drunkard!”

Thresh got keen-eared about something she had mentioned. “Are you drunk under the direct order of an authorized commander in the name of the Cosmic Court, Captain?”, he asked resentfully while trying to get a closer look. 

Yasuo blinked a few times as if he hadn’t even listened to anything in the last few minutes and narrowed his eyes, trying desperately to focus. “N-no.”, he answered weakly and was about to make a more miserable attempt to get some distance between them. That sounded more like a question as if he wasn’t entirely sure about his condition and Thresh felt frustration rise inside him but he reminded himself that the man was not officially part of his unit; reproving his actions would interfere with his mission and his orders. Besides that he couldn’t put a man in jail only because he wasn’t sober on duty. Even though he wished so just for the mere fact that unreliable comrades were always a high risk he’s not willing to take and a day in Tuula would do it’s trick to assure obedience in the future. 

“I think he got hit by a rock back then when we blast the vault.” Malphite explained and shrugged as if he wasn’t entirely sure if this would indeed be the case for his strange condition but he sounded sincerely worried. Sona gesticulated swiftly with her fingers and Malphite nodded in approval while Jinx giggled. 

Thresh tried to understand anything of her gestures but he came to the disappointing realisation that he was lost. “Would you mind repeating that, Miss?”, he asked while facing Jinx instead. 

“She said, he deserved it for ignoring her earlier when she wanted to tell them about the explosives.” Jinx answered grinning, pleased with the assumption that he actually needed her help. “She’s right. That was very rude”, she added indignantly on her own. 

“I see.” Thresh took a mental note for the next time they shared the unfortunate fate of working together he would insist on clear instructions to prevent such a disaster repeating itself. Then he reminded himself to ensure the best solution was to prevent them from working together ever again. This whole scenario was an exception in the first place induced by the Queen herself and he had no desire to cooperate with wanted criminals in the future. Or at least criminals who would be far less … chaotic. 

Something was definitely not right. Yasuo looked feverish and whatever caused his current state was by far not only attributable to his drinking behavior alone. “You are dismissed”, he ordered before turning his attention to the Templar Lady once more. “My dear, I am worried about the wellbeing of your captain. It would be wise if you would take care of him. He seems to need some rest.” She raised an eyebrow at him for a brief moment in quickly fading surprise; almost hasistating as if she considered to start an argument, but coming to her senses the moment she must have realized it would be a waste of time for her to bicker with someone who wasn’t even able to understand her anyway. Offering a sweet and silent smile, she finally nodded and dragged her Captain softly and reassuringly out of the room along with her. 

“Now” Jinx began, pointing behind her shoulder at the man while raising an eyebrow. “What are we doing with him?”

“We?” He asked curiously and avoided the urge to raise an eyebrow as well. “Oh, you must be misunderstanding. The responsibility of this issue behooves the interest of her royal majesty and the Cosmic Court. You have no warrant in this matter.” He had heard a lot of nonsense from this woman the entire day but this was by far the most ridiculous comment she made. It appeared to him that in the whole universe only she could come up with such an implication and being truly convinced she had a say in this matter. 

Jinx made a nasty noise coming from deep inside her throat that sounded like frustrated growling. “Can you speak like a normal person?”, she asked with an annoyed and impatient tone and adding under her breath less loud but still plainly audible for everyone. “What does ‘behooves’ even mean?”

He simply tried to explain it to her yet again. “He’s now a person of interest and will stay under arrest.” It was disputable if simpler words would do the trick to make it clear to her. This was not a matter of pure comprehension but decisional power. 

“But you can’t do that! He’s not a prisoner!”

It was not a question if he could do it or not. The whole subject became way too complicated the moment he showed some weakness and let this woman coax him into taking the man with them. The only solution he could at least provide was to be the only one taking responsibilities for this inconvenience in the first place; not because he had any sympathy for them but for the obvious reason that these people had neither the training nor the experience to handle such a precarious situation. He had a strong feeling Jinx wouldn't understand any of this, so he decided to do the two best things he believed he was actually good in. Being threatening. And rational. 

“Shall I remind you that it was your ill-advised idea to abduct an unconscious citizen of the Demaxian Empire and that I could arrest you as well for interfering with the loose armistice between our fractions which might be the reason for a potentially upcoming war?”, he asked calmly. 

Jinx’ eyes widened for a moment as if she was about to understand before she crossed her arms in a sulky manner. “Aw, you played me dirty. And here I thought we could be best friends!” Thresh felt the corner of his mouth twitching and had to suppress the urge to form a mocking smile. “Forming an alliance with a criminal? I would never.”

“I won’t allow this!” Now she was patently stubborn and her lips turned into a pouting. 

“Jinx …” Malphite tried to be reassuring. 

Thresh just narrowed his eyes and tilted his head in her direction. “Shall I add obstructing a commander in the performance of his duty to your list?”, he offered, almost playful. 

“Jinx, please.” 

Malphite tried once more but she seemed to completely forget that he was even in the room or ignored him on pure purpose. She pointed a finger at him while raising up from the chair, about to pick up a fight right now if she had to. “I will blow you a new one and yeet you into the sun of the Solari Constellation, Grand Admiral Cocksucker!”

“That’s insulting and directly threatening the life of an authority of the Cosmic Court, young lady.” His voice harshly and with special emphasis. Thresh had finally enough of this and it was about to put her ditziness to an end. “Enough of this. I have no time for your idiocy. Show some respect.” 

Her face twisted quickly from rage to disappointment to hawkishness. “Aw, come on!” 

Malphite sighed, then shouted once more. “Jinx!”

“What!?”, she yelled back. 

“He’s right. Besides … The man is all we have to offer in exchange.” Malphite explained after finally getting the chance to speak. Thresh couldn’t fight the urge to raise an eyebrow at this. 

“What are you talking about?, he asked firmly even though he had an uprising certainty that he was not going to like what he was about to hear. “Where is the artifact?”, he demanded to know once he finally realized he had totally forgot about it over the bickering of this obnoxious woman. 

Malphite looked at him totally unimpressed. “Well, we lost it.” 

There was silence for a moment; so thick he had the feeling of being right back in these uncanny corridors. “You are about to tell me you lost the only thing of high importance to this mission?” He felt a headache about to form right behind his eyes. 

“It’s not like we had a choice.”, Malphite continued in defense. He gave the impression of being dead serious but to be honest everything about him seemed to be meant serious all the time. “The moment we opened that vault there was such an oppressing force trying to lure us in. It was so strong and unbearable as if it was screaming inside our heads. Even Sona seemed to be affected and that should be nearly impossible since the Ora is protecting her.”

That was very concerning yet it was nothing he didn’t have expected in the first place. If the artifact truly verified it’s rumors about beholding compulsive powers it was very clear that something like this could be the very case. Sadly, he had to admit that he underestimated the extent of such a force and to tell the truth he had no imagination about the great influence it would have on anyone around it. Thresh had no doubt to not believe his words yet he was frustrated nonetheless. If he had known beforehand what kind of ancient magic he had to deal with, he had assured to bring more capable men to this mission. But the artifact was lost; maybe even buried under chunks of metal in one of the Demaxian citadels and it would cost him another few weeks to establish a new plan with better equipment and more experienced assistance. 

Thresh weighed his options but he realized he was in a very complicated predicament. Officially, this mission was a total failure. The Queen demanded something of value or at least any kind of result. Yet he had absolutely nothing. 

“Aw, come on! You got the cool scary stuff!” Jinx interrupted, half frustrated and half jealous. Thresh tried to ignore her. 

Malphite gave her a scolding look. He seemed not amused by the choice of her words. “Sir”, he began after he decided to ignore her as well and to pay attention back to the conversation. “This was far beyond any of us ever experienced and I won’t risk the lives of my friends over something like this. If you insist on arresting any of us for just protecting each other I must contradict your priorities.” 

To tell the truth, Thresh did not intend to arrest anyone of them today. He was, to state the obvious, out-numbered in comparison and if they wanted to take him hostage instead it would be very easy to do so. Besides that, he wasn’t even sure if he would actually stand a chance against such a massive force like Malphite. But at least one of them had the foresight to negotiate with him. If it meant he would get the man in exchange without any more unnecessary delays and complications, so be it. Now knowing that the artifact was maybe lost once and for all and there wasn’t any chance to get it back soon, this was the only option he had anyway. He sighted. “I get the boy and I will forget about any misbehavior of your Pilot and the Cosmic Court will never hear about any of this.” 

It was hard to tell if Malphite was pleased by his offer or not. Actually it was very hard to read anything in him at all. “Very well. I think we all can live with that.”, he finally answered. They took their time almost simultaneously to check if Jinx was about to start reasoning once more. Surprisingly, she just sat in her chair, arms crossed; definitely not pleased with the whole outcome of this situation but she seemed to finally understand that she couldn't do anything about it. Unless she wanted to start a fight with Malphite. Thresh doubted she would dare such an insanity. 

“Promise you will take good care of him.” Her voice was unnaturally quiet and he was not quite sure if she was just exhausted from her former outburst or just accepting her defeat. 

“I assure you I will protect him with my own life, Miss.” He sounded sincere for there was no reason for him to lie. 

“Pinky promise?” She grinned from ear to ear. 

“Don’t tempt me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so sorry I played Yasuo very dirty in this one but it will make sense later I promise  
> Stan Malphite he deserves more love


	3. The Centre of A Dying Star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *CW: loss of memories/amnesia

The Morning Star landed one day later at the stipulated meeting point, a small outpost of the Constellation of the Cosmic Court, to conclude the handover as before. They did so because it was not well-advised if the infamous crew would dare to intrude the Outer Circle and risk getting noticed by the magistracy; they were wanted criminals after all. Thresh intended to do so in the first place merely because of the reason he could not dare to be seen or being just assumed of cooperating with Space Pirates in any given way, which was a contradiction considering that he had needed their help in this mission. 

The flight itself was, after Jinx’ obnoxious tantrum and Malphite’s wise and prescient negotiation, without special incidents. If the Demaxians would even find the time and resources to send anyone after them, they would at least need quite a few days to be ready for takeoff after such an incredible damage the explosion had caused. Sona informed them, after taking care of her beloved Captain, that by blowing up the vault they badly affected a significant part of their propulsion units. They were trapped at their current location until anyone of the air amada would arrive to provide them with sufficient replacements. 

Still, Thresh could not get rid of the feeling to ask himself why one of their citadels would take such a separated route from the rest of the swarm. If it was only to protect the artifact it made no sense to him. In his opinion it would be far more efficient if it was surrounded and protected by the rest of the Empire’s forces. The mere fact this one seemed as it was veer of course was exactly why it raised his attention and suspicion weeks ago. Otherwise he may never have noticed it and without this aberration it would have never come to his mind to assume the artifact, the Queen was so desperately looking for, was right inside it. 

Yasuo was still not well. To be honest, his current condition seemed to get worse to a certain degree; everyone was concerned about his well-being and the potential danger of a life-threatening state of health. Maybe, Thresh assumed, the origin for his misery was to be found in the artiifact itself and it just appeared that it had a much greater impact on him than on the rest. Sona was a Templar of the Ora and even she confessed of having issues to resist the overwhelming power despite the Ora mostly being in her charge and protecting her. And Malphite was … Thresh had no clue what Malphite was. But at his current point of view it seemed natural to assume that Yasuo, as nothing more than a human, would show a much more lasting effect. 

He wished he actually had the relic to confirm any of his thoughts by now. Unfortunately, he had to wait until he would get a second chance or any chance at all and so his wild guessings were nothing but pipe dreams. 

“So~”, Jinx chirped. “Do you think I can visit you someday?”

“I doubt that.”, he said incurious; not out of pure spite but for the reason that it would put her in a lot of trouble and at high risk if she truly considered such a ridiculous act. Just in this moment he got aware that this was the exact reason why she would come up with such an attempt. 

“At least write me a letter.” She insisted. 

Malphite narrowed his eyes. “I hope we will never see each other again.” Thresh supported this for it was by far better for everyone of them if they wouldn’t have to meet under any circumstance at all. 

They wished their farewells and Thresh entered his own ship, the still sleeping man on board. Was it unsettling at the beginning that the man didn’t wake up after everything that occurred to them since they found him, it was now reaching a point of alarming misgiving. However, he couldn’t do anything about it at all right now but his hopes were high that someone at the Cosmic Court would be able to at least have an explanation, if not a cure. From the outpost itself he only had to bridge a few hours until they would reach the Centre of the Court. A few hours wouldn't matter after everything that had happened already, he thought. 

*

“Where am I?” 

The timid voice came softly from the end of the corner; sleepy and still exhausted after such a long period of sleep. 

“You are awake. Good.” Thresh said, without looking up from his current position in front of the cockpit. He didn’t expect the man to wake up before they would have landed, to be fair. Now that this was indeed the case, he could spend some time, to give him a closer look and hopefully squeeze some answers out of him. To start, he assumed it would be the best to offer some reassurance and prevent him from the first thing approaching him being a wild beast covered from head to toe in martial attire. This would be much easier, when he would at least see a face instead of the motionless mask of a warrior devoid of all facial expressions. Furthermore, he was in desperate need to get rid of this helmet. His neck ached like hell and at some point he wouldn’t avoid the point to take it off anyway. 

Thresh regretted this decision very quickly. 

The moment he put the helmet off and inhaled deeply, he was hit by a swell of nothing but pure want; raw and so incredibly strong his mind went entirely blank for a split second, only to be filled with ineffable lust. He felt like his skin was set on fire; sensitive and desirous. Wild heat pulsed through his veins and rushed straight between his legs. Thresh shuddered from the intensity. A cold shiver running down his spine while fighting against his ignited wanton instincts. He held his breath and noticed the sensation ebbing slowly; the scent lingering in the air, trying to taint his senses. Sweet and seductive. He did not dare to move for, what appeared to him, more than a few seconds. 

Finally he was able to gather his wits; the scent still nagging at the edges of his mind trying to lure him in whenever he was about to take a breath. He would resist this. He had to. In a blink of an eye he had an explanation for so many things and none at all. He saw questions pile up in his mind and he had to decide which ones were the most important at the moment. 

Jinx had mentioned the smell reminded her of ‘being inside a brothel’, but never had it come to his mind that - what he had falsely accused as being nothing more than the stench of death - would ever be taken so literally. It seemed logical to assume there was a small coherence between his current experience and what at least one of them had witnessed down there for this was the place where they found this man in the first place. In his wildest dreams he never had come up with the assumption that it would be coming from him. So this was the mere reason for Yasuo’s behavior all along, it dawned on him, in grisly dismay. How could he be so blind and ignorantly disregard all of this? The full extent of sense all of this made was shocking. 

“Now, little Nightlight, let’s have a talk, shall we?” He engaged the ship on autopilot before rising from his seat. He needed a closer look for the purpose to check his well-being. By the time they found him, he was in an already wretched state and Thresh worried that his condition could have gotten worse over the period of time he got dragged and carried around. Originally, he wanted to insist the Templar Lady with the task but at the moment it was clear that Yasuo’s state wouldn’t ameliorate any time soon, the option was out of the window. And after Jinx’ bickering he had no doubt she would bite off his arm, if he would have dared to touch the man under her watchful eyes.

As Thresh had already recognized, he was concerningly pale as if he had spent a very long time in the absence of any natural light. Tall, but of petite stature and from carrying his body realier, he had learned that he was quite skinny. He definitely lacked some weight. By the gods, he even had lost an arm. 

His eyes had a unique and baffling shape of color; a strangely wild mixture of apatite and amethyst. It was like seeing right into the centre of a dying star. Something he had never seen before, and made him wonder if the man was actually of human offspring to begin with or if this was just the result of the caprice of nature. 

He caught himself staring at him in amazement as his words brought him back to reality. “Who are you?”, he asked shyly as if he wasn’t quite sure if he wanted to state his question at all; slowly raising in a sitting position, his hair a black mess and rubbing one of his eyes. 

“I am Grand Admiral Thresh, Leader of the Pulsefire Fleet and Emissary of her Royal Majesty Queen Ashe II and you are under authorized supervision as a person of interest of the Cosmic Court for suspicious activity and suspected cooperation with the wartime enemy.” 

He watched him carefully, as the man simply took his time to examine his surroundings bit by bit, half curious, half reserved, before he finally met his gaze with a blunt expression. It was apparently clear that he was not paying attention to him and at whatever place his mind has wandered off was not right here in the present. 

“Did you even listen to anything I just said?”, he asked emphatically. 

He got no response. In fact the man didn’t even dare to move, which raised his apprehension. Thresh worried that he was about to slip in a shock and he had to prevent this from happening because he lacked the medical experience to handle such a dreadful possibility properly. He needed him to focus. 

Bending down, he placed his hands on his shoulder. “Hey?” His voice soft, dripping from worry. 

He felt how his body twisted in tension under his touch. He gasped husky. His eyes suddenly glazed with something Thresh was unable to describe as anything but … coarse yearning; intrusively longing and utterly devouring. He could hear a soft and needy moan escape from his lips. His entire being shivered in luscious desire as he desperately tried to lean into the touch for more. 

In an instant he took his hands quickly away. “I’m so sorry.” he said, deeply concerned, slowly backing off. This was not good. Far beyond good, and he decided he should rather take his seat back again to assure some distance between them. Thresh admitted, it was a wise idea to do so, for being not directly in his close proximity had a less threatening effect on himself. He would make sure to keep this in mind at all cost. “Forgive me, please.” The last thing he wanted to happen, was to absolutely frighten the man. It would take a lot of his flair to at least try, but he had an already disappointing feeling that he lost his chance the exact moment, he dared to touch him.

“What are you going to do with me?”, he asked quite timidly. Thresh thought it would be a very well-advised idea to simply answer all of the questions that were about to spill out of him at first. His own interests could wait; at first. He had a lot of time and he had a quite obvious guess that this was going to be first of all a very long conversation and second of all a very long flight. For both of them. 

Thresh started vaguely. “Depending.”

“On what?”, he asked puzzled. 

“On what you are able to tell me about the case that I found you in the custody of the Demaxian Empire, for starters.” 

“I … don’t know.”, he said softly. 

“You don’t know?”, he repeated and he failed to hide his suspicion about this explanation fully. Thresh had no indication that would signify the man trying to come up with blunt excuses or straight up lying. It was obviously clear that the man was in anything but no good shape, let alone this irritating effect he seemed to behold and the heavy reaction physical contact ilicted. Nonetheless, he had to demand a way more clearer answer because his experience had taught him that ‘I don’t know’ is often very similar to ‘I won’t tell’. 

“I can’t remember.”

Well this explained things much better, he had to admit. Thresh believed a form of amnesia might be logical to a certain degree. According to the state they found him and the fact he either had slept or was unconscious for an alarming period of time. Also, he worried, being suddenly and without any warning setted in unfamiliar surroundings must inflict a lot of stress to the man. Sadly, this would have to last a little longer, which he truly regretted. He needed some information after all, even though he already had the presentiment, there was not much to be found. Slowly he asked, for his voice was the only thing he could provide to offer at least a bit of reassurance, with a calm tone. “What exactly is the last thing you can remember?” 

He was met with blinking before some kind of realization crossed his face for a brief moment, Thresh failed to comprehend. “Waking up while you watched me sleeping?”, he replied bluntly. 

Thresh allowed himself to sigh. “Oh dear ...”, he exclaimed. As it seemed, this situation was about to completely get out of hands. This was verily an unideal circumstance. To be fair, he didn’t expect it to be in any form easy, but it changed a lot of things to the bad. He had dealt with such kinds of things in the past; familiar for sure, but too different to draw comparisons to find a quick solution. “Well, in that case it seems we simply have to wait until your memories will come back and in the meantime I have to keep an eye on you.” Not to mention, he would have to hide him until he had to offer the Queen something presentable and a bit more than just picking up just another stray cat who he had the guts to just rip right out of the heart of a Demaxian citadel only because … He had a weak moment of compassion. 

“No!” His voice ripped him straight out of his thoughts and brought him back to attention. “Bring me …”, he began and stopped as if he was about to realize that going back was no option either. “I want to go!”, he demanded, sharp. 

“I am afraid to tell you I can’t let this happen.” And he saw how his eyes filled with anger and frustration as he spoke. 

“Why!?” He snapped. 

Thresh did not mind his uprising outburst. In fact, he would be actually worried if the opposite would be the case. It was an absolutely normal and understandable reaction to approach this particulars with infuriation. No one would accept such a turn of events without some kind of protest. He was not impressed. “For now it appears you are in a very intricate situation and it is my duty to protect your life and to preserve you from harm.”, he patiently explained and waited for his reaction. 

For a moment it seemed as if he had to take his time to think about his words; trying to consider them. Or maybe he just had trouble comprehending the extent of his declaration as a whole. Then he narrowed his strange looking eyes suspiciously. “I am your hostage.”, he whispered in awe like he still hadn’t decided if he should be torn between being hostile or anxious over his own conclusion. Thresh realized that this whole conversation on it’s own must have worn him out completely. He was afraid about running right into the risk to overwhelm him. 

“More or less, much to my regret.” He answered sincerely. His statement was very close to the truth though he wished the entire scenario would be by far less complicated than it seemed to be at the moment. But he had a feeling that simply lying would be a very ill-considered decision. In the worst case, he could come up with, it would cause more emotional damage as to confirm his worries would do for they were very reasonable. And he had no intention to delude his concern with cheap promises and false reassurance. “But I hope I can make your involuntary stay at least as comfortable as possible”, he added. This was the least he could do. Anything else was either out of his influence or too vague to come up with assumptions about it at this point. If it was true what the man had said about his loss of memory, and there was no doubt that this wasn’t the case, the only thing they could do was to wait for it to come back and with it maybe the hope to be provided with much more useful information before he could make any next step. Sadly, he had no other options left and there had been no turning back the moment Thresh decided to wrap him in his cape and rescue him. This was his fault and he was the only one who had to take responsibility for it. 

“And what do you want from me?” 

Answers, he would say but this was no option. Thresh bore enough insight to be aware that they had to start at the very bottom to slowly make this work. For he had already put the man in a lot of distress and anxiety and he would rather not repeat this unless the circumstances were outside of his reach to prevent such an incident at another time. One step at a time. “First I would advise you to change into some proper clothes.”, he said instead. 

He tilted his head silently. Then he raised from his position to stand up and was about to brush the fabric of the cape from his shoulders. 

“Oh by the gods, not right in front of me!” Thresh pinched the brick of his nose while looking away. He sighed. “There is a private room where you can wash and dress. Unfortunately I can’t provide more fitting clothes, but it will do for now.” His finger pointing in the direction. From the corner of his eye he saw him nodding in silence. 

“One last thing.”, he finally added. 

“Yes?”

“What’s your name?”

He went silent for a long time without moving from his place. Thresh worried if the man might actually even have forgotten his own name. 

Blankly, he just stood there, staring at something of what appeared only he was able to see. 

Then he answered. 

“Jhin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be the last chapter with Thresh's point of view for now but I will let him out of the box whenever I need him to tell us the plot, I promise. We'll also leave the infamous Crew of the Morning Star for a while but I planned a cameo in the future. Maybe.   
> Next chapter we get more of Jhin. I know you were waiting for him.


	4. Splinters Of Glass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *chapter CW: mention of panic attack  
> *general update: added some tags, added a summary

The moment Jhin entered the room and closed the door behind him, he dropped on the floor for he felt utterly exhausted and worn out; physical, emotional. He praised himself for beholding the power to get this far before he finally gave in. The last thing he wanted to happen right now was to accidently pass out at the feet of a complete stranger. What a dramatic scene that would have been. 

Now he was safe. 

At least for a while. 

He counted in his head to reassure himself while he buried his face into his remaining hand. 

One. Two. Three. Four.

He had a panic attack, he thought. It would pass by. 

One. Two. Three. Four.

He took a deep breath. 

And another.

And another.

Much better. 

He took his hand away to take in his new surroundings. Far more quiet. Less talking. That’s exactly what he needed right now. Just some silence. 

The room itself was surprisingly cozy compared to its small size. Decent and tidy as if it was either barely used or regularly kept in a presentable state. It contained everything someone would probably need for a short-distance flight. A bed, a drawer. There was an unnecessary large mirror occupying one corner alone. And there were in fact clothes waiting for him neatly thrown over a chair. How quaint and thoughtfully. 

His eyes stopped for a moment as he noticed another door right next to him of what he assumed must be a bathroom. Jhin wondered if he was allowed to take a shower and decided quickly against it for it seemed to be not a good choice, when he mused about it. If he took longer than he was expected, maybe the man would check on him. Jhin didn’t want to see him right now. He wanted to be left alone in peace for a few minutes before phasing reality again. Just enough to catch his breath and to collect his thoughts. 

Anxiety rose as he resumed the past events. He had stated that he had no memory, but he had lied to this man the first moment he had a chance to do so. It was not entirely out of ill intention, he tried to reassure himself. He was scared and confused and it slipped out of his hands the moment he had to face the overpowering fact of waking up in a totally different place with a goddamn Admiral of the Cosmic Court right in front of him, as if he was some kind of war criminal. It was by far not like he did it on purpose. 

Jhin froze as realization hit him. 

He had lied. He had lied to an official authority of the Cosmic Court and he had a feeling that this would lead to a lot of trouble and more complicated entanglements once the man would get a hint of it. He wondered what the man would do to him, once he found out and what kind of reaction it would cause, since he already suspected him of forming some kind of ridiculous and preposterous alliance with the enemy. However, he had to find a good excuse if this secret might get revealed; perhaps it would be the smartest to play along with his already established role of having lost his memory and at the next best occasion he would just let slip through that some fragments had crossed his mind again. 

He sighed before he was able to get up from the floor. He hesitated as he passed the mirror; stopping in his tracks, considering. Then he dared to peek. He wished he did not. 

The man he saw looked forgein. He didn’t even look alive. More like a walking corpse with dark corners under his disgustedly altered eyes of bizarre color. His skin sallow. He seemed to be taller than he could remember. Thin. This was someone but definitely not him. The heavy realization crept slowly out of the darkness of a corner of his mind to whisper into his ear. He hadn’t seen his own face for what must have been years. 

This was not how he used to be. Even more tormenting was the suspense of not having a single glimpse of knowledge about what or who exactly he should be or how he was supposed to feel. The only constant he had to hold on was the dire feeling that something was terribly wrong; far from right and it was the cause of this hideous sensation of being not himself but something entirely else. Different. Changed. Maybe twisted and torn into pieces before being poorly put back together again. He was on the fence if he wished to remember something or anything at all or if he would rather stay forever in this uncertain state of hazy and dreadful assumptions about his own life. All of a sudden he felt unbearably sick. 

He faced away from the mirror while trying to suppress the urge to smash his fist into the glass. Instead he cleaned and dressed as he was told. The clothes, a bit too wide for his frame to be fitting but better than nothing. At least he felt partly like a normal human again. 

He felt like he had nothing but splinters of glass inside his head. He could feel tears rising from the depth of his heart but he was too tired and too exhausted for starting to cry. 

Furthermore, he didn’t want his misery and inner turmoil to be noticed by the strange man next to him. Jhin had a discomforting certainty it would lead to an unpleasing disclosure of his pitiful disposition. Something, he didn’t want to burst out right of his soul under the supervision of a total stranger for he neither trusted this man nor had he a plausible reason to do so. He seemed kind or as kind as a person can truly be who outright had the candor to inform someone about their state of being a hostage. But even if he would have something like reliance left for this man, he had no trust left in himself. 

Jhin did not feel well and remembering the enormous reaction his body had gone through in his presence - something he was definitely sure about he had never felt before - was devastating and staggering equally. He preferred that he never had to go through such an uncanny and intensive experience ever again for he feared he was not able to resist this overwhelming sensation once more. Just the mere thought made him tremble and spiked his heat. Longing nagged at his senses when he remembered him bending over him with his hands on his shoulders and his face so close and Jhin, feverish and hot, dripping with anticipation and … 

Stop. 

He took another deep breath to suppress his distress as far as he was able to do so. At the moment he could not change the miserable state he found himself currently in and he doubted this would change anytime soon. Perhaps, he was able to rely on the things he definitely knew for sure, which was not much but better than nothing. At least, he thought to himself, this approach was better than endlessly trying to search for something without even knowing what he was looking for. 

He tried to tame the mess of his hair - avoiding the face in the mirror as good as possible - but realized with frustration it wouldn’t do without washing them properly. It was one thing that he felt like a complete wreck; he really wished he had at least the privilege to not look like one too. Resignedly he decided that it would have to do for now, absolutely not satisfied with the result, and braced himself with another sigh before he left the room.

*

“How do you feel?”

Thresh asked after a while deeply interested. Jhin almost jumped by the sudden break of silence. The man hadn’t said a single word after he came back again for what appeared to him must have been a very long time. 

Jhin wrinkled his face in confusion. According to what had happened to him in the last hour it should be obviously clear how he was currently feeling. He fell silent for a moment. ‘Awful’ he wanted to answer, but he was certain that this statement was going to raise concern or discontent; neither of those he wanted to inflict for he was sure that it would lead to a path, he was not willing to go along. The last thing he truly wanted was to talk about his sincere emotions with someone he barely knew. 

“Better” He said instead and was surprised how his words didn’t sound like a lie at all. Maybe he really felt kinda better. He was not entirely sure and musing about it would make his head start spinning. So he just brushed it off; deciding it was not worth brooding about it any longer than necessary. 

“Glad to hear.” For no particular reason Jhin had no doubt that he actually meant it. This man was all kinds of strange and it would be a very ill-advised idea to start getting behind his reasons or his true intentions. Even though he slightly knew that at some point he would have no other choice to figure out some bits and pieces. He needed to ensure he would find a way to trick this man into believing him to some degree. After all, he was about to spend an unpredictable long time with him. Alone. He felt anxiety rise inside him. “Do you need a talk? We have still three hours of flight to pass, after all.”

Jhin took his time to respond. He was not in the mood for smalltalk. “Can you not … just bring me home?”, he finally asked, trying to negotiate. He really didn’t want to go to some forgein place he never been before and probably being surrounded by more strangers. He wanted to be somewhere else; a place he knew and where he could at least make sure he felt not lost and at the mercy of someone else. Sadly, he realized he didn’t have a single clue where this place would even be. 

His question seemed to catch his attention. “And where shall that be?” Something told him that he should feel mocked over this remark, but to his own surprise, he didn’t. He was right and it frustrated Jhin to no end that he was indeed right and he had nothing to offer in response to sound convincing. 

“Runeterra?” He said insecurely, but it was by far the most replicable thing that came to his mind. And Jhin had just made peace with himself to just rely on things he seemed at least to be certain to know about. Runeterra sounded just right enough to be a reasonable conclusion. He felt like a human. If that made any sense; hopefully he hadn’t to explain it out loud for he feared it would sound either ridiculous or utterly mad. 

He could see the man raising an eyebrow. Jhin assumed, if the Admiral wanted to bear the question how he would even know if he was truly from Runeterra with no memory at all, he was polite enough to not speak his mind. 

“I wish I could just do that, but I have to pass. My apologies.” He simply stated before finally looking up to meet his gaze. “As far as I know, you are neither emotional nor physical in high feather. Leaving you just somewhere on your own would be highly irresponsible.” There was something about his voice Jhin really loathed to the core; always calm and inordinately patient. 

Jhin could not prevent himself from holding back. “Why would you care?” He snapped in frustration. Why would this man even have the tiniest interest in him at all that he could not just leave him alone somewhere far away? 

Thresh did not answer right away. Instead he narrowed his eyes darkly in a long and stretching silence before he finally spoke. “Young man”, he began firmly and suddenly he had such an unyielding tone that it filled him with tension. Jhin felt so small and tiny under his piercing look in an instant. It was as preposterous as it was stunning. Almost like Thresh’s entire presence was just towering over him and he hadn’t even moved from his place to do so. “I will not allow you to run willingly into your gruesome death or a fate far more heinous, if you like it or not. I won’t let you get hurt no matter what and my heart bleeds for you, but unfortunately, you have no other choices. Did you understand?” 

Jhin just stared at him in disbelief while taking in his words. His heart pounding in his chest as if it was about to escape its cage. He felt anger bubbling up from somewhere deep within as he realized what had actually just happened. He narrowed his eyes in resentment. Did he just lecture him? As if he was nothing more than some sort of misbehaving brat and he scolded him for not following his advice. “You can not treat me like a goddamn child” He replied in indignation and he was irritated how quiet his own voice sounded. 

Thresh looked utterly unimpressed about his demand. “I will stop treating you like a child when you stop behaving like one.” He explained, less strict and more conciliatory and Jhin grit his teeth in nothing but spite.

“I hate you.” He simply spat because he failed to come up with something better. He was tired of trying to do so. He really meant it. He didn’t even want to be here in the first place. No one even had the decency to ask him if he actually needed help or rescue. This whole situation was not his fault. Thresh just decided for himself over his head to do so just because he could. Jhin tried to remind himself to be rational enough to keep in mind that perhaps there was no chance at all to let him make this decision for himself. A small voice inside his head tried to convince him that there was no possibility to even come up with the concept of asking for his consent in this matter. But right now he was too stubborn and too angry so he just ignored it and pushed it away. Maybe he just wanted to feel angry because it was a much better feeling than having to choose between anxiety, worry or emptiness which screamed for being filled with pleasure. 

“Fine.” Thresh said while turning away. “Hate me as much as you like if it helps you to feel better. I won’t take offense.” 

Jhin inhaled deeply for his upcoming remark but he got interrupted before he had the chance to say a word. There was an irritating noise that caught his attention which he couldn't figure out at first. After he took a few seconds to collect himself, he realized that it came from an incoming voice call radio. He witnessed as Thresh sighed in something that sounded like regret, muttering something Jhin failed to identify. Then he was about to answer the call. 

“Daddy!”

The high-pitched voice of a girl chirped from the other side of the radio and it appeared to him that he wasn’t the only one who nearly jumped out of his skin by this unexpected happening. Thresh looked like he got caught in something that no one should ever witness in front of him and his face twisted from surprise to something Jhin lacked to describe properly, so he settled for embarrassment. He watched him coughing slightly and how he was able to snap back to attention in a blink of an eye was kinda astonishing. 

“Lieutenant Neeko I am on duty.” He answered firmly. Yet his voice failed to retain his usual rigor completely. 

She hemmed very loud and exaggerated, before finally speaking. “Grand Admiral Thresh, Neeko is about to inform you, you are in bi~g trouble.” And her voice sounded like she was trying to adapt a much deeper and more serious tone. From his position Jhin tried to prevent his lips from twitching into a smile at the unknown girl’s attempt for he was afraid even his slighted inappropriate interference might get a lesson. He felt as if his whole presence was about to disturb something very private and sentimental and he wished he could be somewhere else. 

Thresh sight softly. “Where is Commander Kalista, sweetie?” He asked. 

“Oh, Neeko does not know, but she is so much going to kick your ass.” 

Jhin had the impression that statement sounded way too excited for someone speaking to their father but he would definitely not dare to let a comment slip out of his mouth. Actually he felt relieved that out of nowhere the Admiral seemed to have completely forgotten about him and he prefered this change in events. 

“Language, young lady.” He scolded playfully. 

“Her words, not Neeko’s!” She insisted strongly. And after a brief pause. “Are you coming home now?” Her voice thick with worry. 

“Yes, my dear.” He answered reassuringly. “I’m coming home.”

“Don’t be late for dinner! Eve is cooking tonight!”

“Oh no! I would not dare.” He could not believe his ears for what he heard was actually sarcasm. “Set the table for one more, would you be so kind?” Jhin frowned at that; disbelieving. He was so confused that he didn’t dare to bear the question of what was about to happen. He felt distrust coming upon him. Wasn’t he supposed to be a hostage? 

“Are you bringing a visitor?” She asked with what sounded like curiosity and excitement. 

“Yes.” He answered her question while turning around once more to look directly at him. “We have a guest.”

And Jhin was met with the warmest smile he never had seen before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the first chapter of Jhin's pov. I hope you enjoy it. I was super nervous while I wrote it.  
> Jamie and I had the headcanon for Thresh being Neeko's (foster) dad for a very long time now and I thought it was time to finally pay tribute to it. Maybe I will unwrap so much more of our thoughts in this mess of a fic in the future and hopefully you will all starting so simp for Dad!Thresh one day!


	5. The Little Lieutenant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *no chapter warnings  
> this one is just wholesome and pure

As they arrived after hours right in the Centre of the Cosmic Court, Jhin felt nothing but pure dread. His mind was stuffed with worries how his journey would continue from now on. At the ship he was too occupied by his own emotions; now he was occupied with the uncertain outcome of his future. He desperately needed to know what they would do to him once they landed. 

This was not the Celestial Palace, as far as he could tell. He heard stories about it being a wonderful and glorious place. Pretty and radiant. The manor that slowly approached in the foggy distance was far away from being described with such words. Tall. Threatening. It rose from the snowy landscape around them like a dark monolith surrounded by nothing but mere solitude. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt such dread slowly rising from deep within soul. Jhin was caught by the unsettling and frightening assumption that this ghastly place was about to swallow him as a whole and would never spit him out ever again. And as odd and ridiculous as it sounded, he wasn’t able to simply shake it off as nothing more than a childish thought. Only because deep down he already knew his suspicion might be the somber truth. 

He expected to be thrown in a cell and his fate being at the mercy of this man. He also expected they would introduce him to the mad Queen - as she was known in all the corners of the universe - and was about to face a much more gruesome doom. Everyone secretly knew Queen Ashe II was at the verge of insanity; the war against the Empire had ripped her humble and sweet-tempered mind apart after her husband had been assassinated. What would she do to someone who was accused of cooperating with the same people who had the chance to kill the love of her life in the heart of her home? 

What he did not expect was to be confronted with the most quirky girl in the entire universe. She rushed towards them as soon as they had left the ship and literally jumped at the man beside him. He had never seen a more colorful being in his life. Her body, a wild mixture of skin and scales glistening under the sun and her hair all kinds of violet and blue. She was so short, she reached Thresh only right above his waist. The woman that followed behind, a petite lady with white, wispy hair, even smaller. 

“We didn’t expect you back so soon.” The Lady chirped in a sweet tone and Jhin noticed, as she raised one of her hands, her intimidating long nails. “And who have we here?” Her voice rose in curious interest as her yellow eyes met him like she was going to … eat him. He failed to find a proper description for her intense stare. As she was about to reach after him, what seemed to be a closer look, Jhin could not help himself but to flinch away. Firstly, he didn’t want to be in close proximity to these sharp nails and secondly, he didn’t want to be touched by a stranger. 

“This is Jhin. He will be our guest. For a while.” Thresh replied, still rubbing the head of the lizard girl softly. 

The Lady tipped at her chin for a moment. “Kalista won’t like this.” She finally stated half amused, half worried. 

Before Thresh had a chance to respond, he snapped to attention as another woman slowly approached from the distance. The tall and slender silhouette slowly coming closer was already unsettling on its own. In the snowy, wide courtyard, surrounded by dead trees, it was like staring at an entity much worse. Jhin noticed immediately that she was far from being in a good mood. “And here she comes.” The Lady announced utterly amused about upcoming events Jhin had no glimpse about. 

“Oh, oh. Someone is in trouble.” The girl warbled as she finally decided she had enough reassuring affection to finally withdraw from Thresh’s body. Jhin watched, as she started to paddle towards him. Her eyes sparkling with childish curiosity as she just stared at him in silence; her lips slightly open as she was stricken with astonishment. “Neeko is glad to meet the star child.” Her voice dripping with awe. Jhin could not resist the flattering feeling these words inflicted somewhere deep inside him and he felt his cheeks flushing with heat. But the good kind.

As the tall and lean woman finally arrived at the group, she gave Jhin a quick look. Her face didn’t move. Instead she just gave him a single frown and ignored him before she spoke to Thresh. “On a word. Now.” Kalista demanded in a husky voice; her dark eyes glinting with sobriety and subliminal anger. 

Thresh looked like he was either totally unimpressed by her command or about to accept a challenge. “Eve, would you show Jhin his room and check on him? I am afraid I have to speak with my beloved sister in private.” 

“With pleasure.” Jhin wished it would not be the Lady with the long nails but it seemed like he had no other choice. He felt lost. 

The girl named Neeko nudged his side, grinning widely. Jhin could swear that Thresh froze right in the moment, she dared to touch him, but in an instant his upcoming concern and horror was replaced with realization and relief. “She will punish him for being naughty.” Neeko said with a failing attempt to whisper as she leaned closer to his ear. 

Thresh sighed deeply. “Neeko, my dear, why don’t you visit Fiora and tell her about your new friend while we others have to do boring parent stuff, hmh?” Jhin frowned. He would rather not like to be introduced as someone’s friend or any kind of a false attempt of friendly manner, but it made sense to him that Neeko, apart from her size, was far off from being an adult; speaking in a way that was appropriate around a child seemed reasonable even though it was to his personal distaste. 

“Else she will miss dinner again if no one will remind her.” Thresh insisted with playful pressure in his voice. 

“Oh no! No one should miss dinner!” She exclaimed loudly worried. “Neeko is right on her duty!” And Jhin could not believe his own eyes as he saw the girl running away literally on all fours. He blinked a few times. Did he saw a tail? 

“Would you follow me, please?” Eve asked in her oddly sweet and compelling tone. As he hesitated for a moment, she raised her eyebrows. “Don’t worry, darling. I don’t bite.” 

*

The rest of the day was absurdly quiet. The scary woman named Eve had given him as much rest as he needed to find at least a little bit back to his true self. Or whatever his true self seemed to be. Jhin had no clue. But he felt better the moment he had drank her tea while she was all over him, asking him all kinds of questions of his well-being and seemed to be pleased at the end by the results. 

When he assured her - not right away, it took him four attempts to finally convince her - he was indeed fine, she showed him his room which would probably be his home for a very unclearly long time. 

Everything will be fine, she had said. He doubted that. Even though he truly wanted to believe, she was just trying to cheer him up. But she did not dare to touch him once and when the topic shifted to his arm, she had the decency to not nag at him any further about it after he let his guard down and stated he really didn’t want her to take a look. She even insisted on cooking soup just for him only because she was afraid something else would strain his empty stomach. That was … nice. 

He took, what appeared to him, the first shower in ages and was only disappointed by the fact that it wasn’t able to also wash this nasty, hot feeling out of him. He wondered with worry how long he would stay in this strange and exhausting condition and why it was even there in the first place. It was far from being acceptable. He was able to ignore it the most time but whenever he kept his guard off it was right there to creep around the corner to continue bothering him. He took his time to muse about if it would be a wise decision to tell the small lady with the long nails about this. Of all he knew about her, she was skilled in medical issues and maybe she would have some kind of solution or at least an explanation. Quickly, he decided against his idea for she seemed kind but he did not trust her after all. He already felt like a freak; he really didn’t want people around him knowing he truly was one too.

Also, it would lead to the awkward possibility of explaining his experience with the Admiral towards her and he would rather die than having to face this embarrassment and indignity. 

The peace was devious. 

As dinner was about to be served he could witness Kalista and Thresh still arguing with each other in a heated conversation. He tried to ignore them and hoped, no one would recognize him. Eve had told him it was insisted that he would have dinner with them like he was not nothing more than a mere hostage. The whole scene made him uncomfortable. He would rather have it if they would just lock him in a room and not treat him like he was … A guest. 

“And what will you tell the queen?”

“Nothing. For now.”

“You are completely out of your mind.”

In the meantime Neeko was already stuffing her plate with vegetables. No one seemed to mind. 

“If you two don’t stop fighting right now I’ll dismiss you from this table.” Eve warned. 

Kalista crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair. “Fine.” She simply said in a tone Jhin failed to identify as a sincere assent. Her black eyes gave the vague expression she was about to start again when the time was right. 

Thresh raised an eyebrow at her. “I am your superior and you can’t dismiss me in my own house.”

Eve’s lips turned into a sweet yet very promising smile. “Be glad I’ll do just that, honey.” Jhin was not sure but to him that sounded like she was openly threatening this man right in front of everybody else. He assumed that they were either very close to each other or that Thresh was someone who took nothing from everyone serious enough to be considered unless it was coming directly from himself. Nonetheless it was impressive. 

The door opened. A tall woman stepped into the room as if she was in some kind of hurry. With a stoic face and short hair dressed in full attire as if she was about to call to arms at every minute or was just about to run straight into the next battle. The table fell silent the moment she entered. “What’s the reason you two ‘aving a row with each other again?” She demanded to know instantly without looking at anyone in particular. There was something about her, aside from pure authority and rigor, that was able to set reassurance inside him. She was human and Jhin was actually very glad to finally meet another normal person in this chaotic and colorful mess of a household. Someone who, in a blink of an eye, filled the room with nothing but silence and called everyone around her back to order. 

“My baby brother decided to be a complete idiot.” Kalista answered right away; her eyes filled with deliberate provocation, as she glanced at Thresh again. Before he had a chance to answer, the woman interrupted him in wise foresight. 

“What else is new?” She simply stated and Jhin could see how Thresh was about to inhale deeply for another reply, before she completely ignored him and turned to him the moment her eyes fell on him. “And you must be Jhin then?”, she asked with a bit of curiosity. Jhin wished he could hide somewhere far away. He had the urge to jump up and run away as far as he could. Not merely because of the woman’s hard look, but for the very reason that the whole day had just moved all around him being the centre of attention and he was about to lose his mind. 

“Yes, Ma'am.” He answered timidly.

She stared at him for a few seconds that felt like she was about to lecture him in the most devastating way he could imagine before her face finally lightened up. “Finally someone with good manners.” She replied. “This ‘ouse can use some if you ask me, but you will see for yourself.”

“How was your day, Fio?” Eve smiled sweetly across the table. 

Her attention snapped to her in an instant. She looked far from pleased about the nickname. “It’s still Vice Admiral Fiora for you.” She answered sharply. “Terrible. I’ll tell you later.” Fiora added while taking a seat next to him and leaned closer. “See what I mean?” Her lips curled up in an amused smile. Jhin could not resist to reply with a weak smile of himself. He had a feeling she was the kind of person who was able to conquer everyone around here with her mere impressive presence. 

“Now that everyone is here, we can finally eat before our sweetheart dies of starvation.”

Neeko stopped to look up from her plate, beaming with a smile. “Eve has cooked you her get-well-soon-soup. You will like it.”

Something was about to rise from the depth of the dark void inside his head. An unfamiliar yet endearing feeling tainted with sorrow and sadness. Jhin choked down the swell of tears trying to come over him out of nowhere. Unable to pin down the reason behind his odd reaction, he forced himself to keep his composure. It was confusing and frightening. The only thing he had left was his pride and he was not willing to ruin it by having a breakdown at the dinner table of some bunch of total strangers.

*

After dinner, Neeko persisted in playing a board game of her choice she neatly picked for everyone. Jhin remembered he hated board games and it was not only for the mere reason that at least one of them constantly tried to cheat. The evening and the events of the day slowly settled down and he felt, for the first time since he woke up, something like repose growing inside him. 

By the time Neeko started to yawn, he could watch, as Thresh with a swift motion almost instantly rose from his seat by the fire. 

“Come, little girl.” He said softly. “Time for bed.” Jhin watched as he cradled her in his strong arms and carried her carefully out of the room as if she was far more tinier than she actually was. 

It was such a warm and loving gesture, Jhin felt nothing but shame as the view filled him with intrusive need. 

How he wished that awful feeling would just vanish once and for all. 

*

Jhin dreamed. 

Of hands. 

All around him. Touching. Grabbing after him. Capturing and holding him down. Of hands all over his body, around his neck. suffocating him under their pressure, crushing him and grinding him to pieces. Tearing at his hair and his limbs. Trying to rip him apart. Holding him down and ...

He woke in cold sweat. 

Dread set heavy upon him like a heavy blanket. 

He took a deep breath as he slowly realized where he was and started to remember why he was here to begin with. There was nothing. No hands. Just him. Alone. 

He allowed himself to be reassured but he dared not to close his eyes yet again; fearing the images would rise once more the moment he was about sleep luring back in. 

After a while of either just lying or uselessly shifting from one side to the other, he finally decided to sit up. He wasn’t going to sleep so soon. Perhaps he could pass some time with reading for these people were actually so merciful to leave him in a room that beheld a bookshelf. At least he wouldn’t die from boredom in the next few weeks. 

He stared in shock, as he was met with a pair of golden eyes looking at him. This strange girl was sitting right next at the bench of the open window. It appeared to him that she had sneaked inside and as it came to his mind that she had done it without him taking notice though he was wide awake, concerned him for a brief moment. How had she managed to do this? She tilted her head slightly; one leg dangling in the air. “Can’t sleep?” She asked in a greeting kind of manner. 

“No.” He simply said, stating the obvious. 

As she blinked it was as if, for a brief moment, someone had blown out two candles in the dark. “Bad dreams?”

He didn't reply. The last thing he wanted was to admit in front of a little girl he suffered from nightmares of vaguely horrible things he was barely able to understand and he would rather wish not to know what might be the reason for it. He wished it was just caused by the feeling of being left out and the circumstance of being in, what felt like, an entire new and unknown world surrounded by so many strange characters. 

“It’s alright.” She beamed with an encouraging smile. “Neeko has bad dreams too. We all have. Even daddy.” He had a bad feeling knowing that she was telling him something, he was not supposed to know. It was like he was about to reveal a secret he was not allowed to be included. 

He took her view in for a while. “He isn’t your real dad, isn’t he?” Was the best thing that came to his mind. 

She made a humming sound while resting her chin on one of her knees as if she was about to cerebrate. “Neeko is Oovi-Kat. I don’t need daddy to be Oovi-Kat.”

Jhin had absolutely no clue what ‘Oovi-Kat’ was supposed to mean but he assumed it must have something to do with her offspring for it was quite obvious that she was coming from somewhere else. Some sort of small planet no one had ever heard of and was simply forgotten over the time. Suddenly and out of nowhere he felt bad for even asking, as he realized that this kind of question must have been very rude. She was, after all, more or less just a girl and she had nothing to do with his situation or the circumstances in the first place. This wasn’t her fault and projecting his forlorn and vague status on her was greatly unfair. 

She hopped from the bench and walked in a kind of crawling manner towards him. “Do you want a bedtime story?” The color of her eyes shifted to mimic his own. He felt uncomfortable at the sight and as she seemed to notice her eyes switched quickly back to the golden tint of her own. 

“What?” He replied confused; half distracted from the event and half irritated about the offer.

She nestled herself comfortably on the bed. “Best thing against bad dreams are bedtime stories. Or sleeping in trees.” She explained in a voice that sounded like it was absolutely clear of what she was talking about and how bewildering it was that he didn’t seem to know about such an important knowledge. 

He wrinkled his face in disbelieving. “You sleep in a tree?” In a very strange way it made kinda sense. He could imagine her doing something like this even though it sounded bizarre to him for she was a very unique and exotic being. Neeko reminded him of a chameleon and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get rid of this impression. It suited her whole appearance and completed her manner to its full extent. But he was sure that she would take great offense if someone would simply compare her to such an animal. 

“Only in summer. Now it’s too cold for tail.” And she fawned with said one, reinforcing her statement. 

Neeko folded her hands over the blanket and let her head rest above them. ”Shall Neeko tell you a story?” Her tail twitched in excitement. 

Jhin didn’t answer right away. “Let me guess, you will tell me nonetheless?” He had a feeling that she would insist in doing so and whatever he would say would just be ignored. It was quite obvious that nothing would help him to prevent her determination. And even when he really wasn’t in the mood for some of her stories right now, her foolish caring was too adorable to just even try and tell her, he was already tired enough to sleep again. 

Also, she seemed like the kind of girl that was not easy to be fooled; the risk was very high she would straight see through his deplorable attempt. And it felt not right to lie to someone who was so candid in being kind. 

Pleased by his comment she nodded in agreement. “Of course I will.” 

“I thought so”, he sighed in defeat. “Well then, tell me a story.” Jhin disbelieved her nice touch would do anything at all, but he was willing to try. The alternative was staying up all night and being utterly tired and wrecked in the morning or maybe drifting off again into nightmares. Both were no pleasing options for his taste. He must be the most pitiful man in the whole universe to trust the help of a quirky lizard girl. He laid back down into the cushions and tried to get comfortable. 

She cleared her throat. “Once upon a time there was the bravest Oovi-Kat.”

“Was her name Neeko?” He asked with a small smile. 

“Shhh, I gonna tell this story.” Her voice, soft and quiet. Jhin closed his eyes. 

Then she started to speak. Soft and whispering. She told of the pride tribe of the great and ancient Oovi-Kat, who lived on a planet far away, who slept in trees and spoke with colors and emotions. And while she spoke inside his head were nothing but drops of vibrant paint as he slowly drifted back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me a while to upload but we are finally made it to gather the whole gang together!  
> I had a lot of trouble writing so much dialogue.   
> It is my wish not only making people simp for Thresh but also becoming totally soft for Neeko!


	6. A Stranger In A Strange Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> CW: super minor sexual content  
> general tags added: mating cycles/in heat

The next morning Jhin woke up from a dreamless slumber he found himself in an uncomfortable hot fever. Highly sensitive and starving form an indecent hunger. His skin felt like he was about to catch fire. Heat gnawing at his inside; rampaging through his body and gnawing at his senses. His mind filled with nothing but want. His lust dripped from his thighs. Wet and sticky. He took a deep breath that escaped his mouth with a muffled groan. 

A moment later he froze entirely for he feared the girl was still around. He was afraid she would witness him in his terrible state and the reaction it would cause would be tremendous; not to mention the consequences he would have to face if she was about to tell anyone about this shameful incident. Jhin didn’t dare to move for, what appeared to him, must have been minutes. His heart hammering in his chest while his mind came up with horrible scenarios he would have to go through. 

Definitely she would inform her father about it. Just thinking about the possibility filled Jhin with unbearable embarrassment and made him wish he could die right here and now. He would never come up with either a good excuse nor a decent explanation for this. Aside from that, the imagination he had to speak with Thresh about this awkward circumstance was … bewildering. He felt anxiety mixing into his already ignited mind and he suppressed the urge to guide his hand as he felt himself twitching. 

As the sleep slowly vanished and his senses started to clear he realized in shuddering relief, she was already gone. He allowed himself to sigh; long and stretched before he finally shifted his hot body to release some weight from the throbbing pain between his legs. 

He rolled on his back, staring at the ceiling and let his hand rest over his eyes. 

“Did you sleep well?”

Jhin almost screamed. 

Almost. 

Instead he pressed his hand over his mouth to prevent himself from doing so. He blinked in disbelief and hoped he was just imagining things while still being trapped inside a daydream. 

Thresh was here. Right now.

Embarrassment washed over him as his mind formed the uncomfortably unavoidable question HOW long he has been in this room. And with it came the rush of thoughts of what Thresh had witnessed of his miserable state. Suddenly Jhin felt trapped. He wished there was a way to save himself from the discomfiture of a possible confrontation. Unfortunately, there was no option left for the mere reason the man already knew he was wide awake and faking being still asleep sounded too ridiculous to give it a try. Jhin had to accept he had to face reality. He sighed deeply disconsolate before he was willing to gather the rest of his pride and dignity 

Slowly he sat up; neatly assuring the sheets would cover most of his body while doing so. His ears did not fail him. Thresh was actually there and not just an intolerable gruelling figment of his blurry mind; sitting in a chair across the room in a very reputable manner like he was patiently waiting to lecture a misbehaving brat straight up caught in the act of mischief. He looked intimidating with his hands folded over his crossed legs and giving him nothing but an inexpressive glance. 

“What are you doing here?” Jhin asked utterly dull, unable to come up with a much smarter reply. 

In response Thresh just raised a brow. If his mind crossed the statement that this was in fact his own estate and there was no reason for him to not be here, he was too forgiving to address Jhin’s foolish remark. “I was looking for my daughter only to find her in your bed.”, he answered dryly. Jhin had to admit that this statement sounded very wrong. Perhaps it was intentional and it was effective enough to do its trick. Suddenly he felt despicably guilty. Jhin wondered if it would be in any kind of way wise to argue with a father over the integrity of his daughter, but realized very soon he would come off second best. 

Some of his unease must have slipped through because he was met with a knowing, almost mischievous smile. “I hope Neeko didn’t disturb you?”, he finally asked with amusement and intriguing sincere concern. 

From his position a glimpse of silver caught his eye. It took Jhin a while to recognize it as some kind of collar around his neck. Very thin and tight. The view irritated him for a second or two. He hadn’t noticed this droll accessoire before but he admitted he was very much occupied with lots of other details in the past events to do so. As he failed to identify it as something else aside from a ludicrous bijou, he brushed it off as being unimportant and uninteresting. “No, she didn’t”, he assured, a bit too hastily. Jhin didn’t want to imply at any risk the girl was a nuisance to him. Firstly, it wasn’t true at all - she had been nothing but sweet - and secondly, he got an uneasy feeling that such a remark in front of her guardian was equatable with having a death wish. 

Thresh took his time to consider his miserable resolute attempt. Jhin was convinced he was absolutely enjoying his unease to a certain point and running out of explanations for his uncanny behavior, he settled for pure malice. “Very well”, he finally said after a while, thoughtful. “Forgive her, please. She has a tendency to sneak around and it seems she already grew fond of you.” 

The apologizing tone in his voice confused him. It was a harsh contrast to his almost delighted smile. Jhin didn’t dare to interrupt the soft moment he was about to observe out of fear any reckless word of himself was about to ruin it. Furthermore, he felt something warm and exulting deep inside him now that he knew the quirky girl liked him. He couldn’t resist the weak smile that was about to cross his face. 

Thresh rose from the chair. “You missed breakfast”, he noted with something that reminded Jhin of worry mixed with sober disapproval. “You should thank Eve for leaving something for you in the kitchen.” Jhin watched him as he was about to reach for the door. 

“I will when I see her.” He meant it. Eve seemed, after all, actually nice. At least, Jhin had no intentions to believe her friendly actions were entirely fake and even if she was just trying to deceive him with her acting, he had good manners. 

Jhin saw Thresh stopping in his tracks once more like he had forgotten something very important that came back to his mind in just the right time. He met him with a thoughtful look before he broke the silence. “I want you dressed and presentable in my office. We have to talk.” Jhin could not resist the urge to raise an eyebrow at his words for they sounded unnecessary explicit to him. 

His eyes widened as realization hit him hard. There was no doubt left that the man had indeed a clue about what was going on, he assumed. He knew. He was just too polite to bring it up to save them both from the embarrassment such an awkward confrontation would keep available. He felt heat flushing his cheeks. 

Jhin swore he was able to notice how his lips formed a mischievous smile. 

“You have one hour.” 

Then he left. 

*

Jhin showered cold until he thought he would freeze to death. It was not enough to cleanse this devastating, longing heat but enough to turn it down and make it slightly bearable. Then he dressed quickly; deciding for the spare clothes he already wore the day before to save time and energy. He wished he had at least some attire for his own to feel more like a real person and less like a lovely living decoration in an unfamiliar place. These people had barely any style when it came to fashion and aside from his wounded vanity he didn’t like wearing the clothes of someone else. Especially not this man. Gladly, they didn't smell like him too. Oh dear gods, he wished not to imagine what his current state would do to his mind if he was surrounded by Thresh’s heavy cologne lingering in the air at any given second. Jhin tried forcefully to ignore his train of thoughts. 

He decided ‘breakfast’ could wait a little longer. Jhin had a lot of time to pass in the upcoming days anyway and he didn’t want to be late for that suspicious meeting. 

For the first time Jhin realized how spacious this Manson truly was and with the exact thought it came to his mind that he had no clue where Thresh’s office was to be found. Gladly, he met Kalista on his aimless roaming. He learned she was the kind of person which either only spoke when it was absolutely urgent or she hated him with a passion. Maybe both. She had been far away from being pleased the other day and she gave the impression that she wasn’t over with all of the events yet. At least she was obliging to show him the way.

“Thank you”, he said.

Kalista scowled him for a few seconds. Then she made a morse humming sound coming deep from her throat and walked away.

Jhin sighed deeply resigned and knocked. 

*

He had thought that Thresh would demand him to sit in front of his desk but he was wrong. They took seats in front of each other; between them nothing but a small table with a tea set. The room itself was comfy. Almost cozy. There was a large desk indeed. Massive and crafted out of some kind of dark wood Jhin failed to identify. It seemed expensive. 

Everything looked a bit antique and genteel. It smelled like burnt wood from the fireplace and dust. He could recognize shelves stuffed with all kinds of things aside from books. The little common technology seemed almost out of place as if it wouldn’t belong here at all but it made sense. The Cosmic Court itself still had a monarchy and was told to be very old-fashioned in general. They had a thing for the aesthetics of the past centuries similar to Runeterra and though they had all kinds of technology, they tended to romanticize the noble etiquette of aristocracy. Wherever he looked he could see how they still grow fond of books made of real paper while using high tech communication systems. They enjoyed candle light and sitting at fireplaces while being in possession of electrical light. It was once an exalted Constellation filled with ancient magic until Queen Ashe The First established progress and development to her citizens eons ago. It was told she feared the Demaxian Empire would one day call to arms and she wanted her fellowship to be steeled and ready to stand a chance. A war she never faced in the end but now her only child had to deal with. 

“Kalista seems angry”, he finally spoke his concern to break the silence. 

Thresh answered without looking up. “Ignore her. She is always angry. It has nothing to do with you.” He sounded kinda encouraging but Jhin had his doubts to believe him. Whatever the reason might be, it was clear he played a part. A minor one but even that bothered him to the core. 

“Now …”, he began as he realized it would be useless to muse about what kind of part that was supposed to be for he felt already guilty. “What do you want to talk about with me?” He would at least want to know what was of such utter importance that the man couldn’t tell him right away but insisted on an official meeting in his office instead. Maybe this was just a small detail of Thresh’s personality and he had just a certain thing for turning every matter into a rigid conference. Jhin could imagine being a person so high in rank was a handful of hard work and far from easy. How does it change a man with such a position over all these years, trying to prevent an inevitable war? It dawned to him that it would be just normal for the Grand Admiral of the Cosmic Court to handle everything around him with care and always following strict orders. Thousands of people’s lives must be in his hands at every of his command. He simply is not allowed to just be … him. But Jhin guessed he could just be overthinking. 

Thresh put his pad aside and folded his hands like he did before. “Since you have met the chaotic mess of my beloved ones and I invited you to stay at our home, we have to establish some rules for the time you are here.” His voice had a serious tone despite the choice of words. 

Jhin took his time to come up with something smart. He was once accused of being a child and he wanted to make sure Thresh was wrong and that he was indeed able to be reasonable. “What kind of rules?”, he asked carefully. 

“First of all I expect of you telling no one aside from this household about the reason you are here. And we will have to come up with a reliable story if someone might ask you.” 

Jhin wrinkled his face in resentment. “If you think I am a threat why would you even bring me here in the first place?”

Thresh gave him a soft look that seemed to ask for forgiveness. “I beg your pardon, but until you are able to give me any useful information I have to factor any worst case in.” 

It was hard to be afraid of this man after he witnessed how everyone around him talked and acted towards him in the most disrespectful manner. Thresh was a brother, a friend, a loving father. Yet Jhin was afraid he was not allowed to merely observe all of these light-hearted aspects for the reason he was not a part of all of this. Like an intruder, who just had managed to sneak his way into their daily life and bonds; an outsider only forced to watch but never be invited and constantly reminded of what his own life would never behold. 

Was this the kind of torture he was about to rechive until they realized he was of literal no use for them? Would they maroon him once they grew bored with his existence? He still had no clue what he was supposed to offer to ensure they would be satisfied with him. Not to mention that he possessed barely nothing of value. His memories won’t come back any time soon. And no matter what little was left of what he actually could offer in exchange was about to cause him even more trouble. 

He was in such a great predicament. Telling something would doom him the same way as pretending he knew nothing at all. 

He was entirely lost. 

“I was captured”, he revealed in defense. 

Thresh raised an eyebrow in surprise. “By whom?” It seemed as if that caught him off guard and he hadn’t expected such a sudden confession. Jhin feared it would be a bit too fast to be actually trustworthy. 

“I don’t …” He stopped right away as he realized his attempt of lying once more. “Zed”, he answered, defeated and weak. He couldn’t dare to entrap himself in more dicey temptations of bending the truth. Sooner or later all of this would be exposed and he would be left with nothing but facing the consequences of being marked as … a traitor. Aside from that he felt a strange remorse to lie directly to this man when he had the chance to prevent himself from doing so. Jhin did it the first time just out of pure panic. But what was he about to do now was absolutely intentional and he knew it would be unforgiving the moment it would be finally revealed. 

Jhin was so sure he would ask him why the most dangerous man in the universe was after him, but he didn’t. “Did he do this to you?”, he asked instead while pointing at his arm with upsiring concern. 

Jhin pressed his lips together. “Yes”, he answered. It was by far better than having to explain the reason why someone like Zed would be after him. 

Thresh narrowed his eyes. “Had Eve taken a look at that?” 

“No”, he said. Jhin was not enthusiastic about the idea of that woman touching him. It would probably cause him no harm or worsen his strange condition but she was a doctor and something inside him made him flinch every time he was around her. Not to mention her nails scared him a bit. 

He could see how Thresh fell silent for a while. “I wish you would let her check on you”, he sounded thoughtfully. “Perhaps we can find a way to do something about it.” 

Jhin sighed deeply. “Why would you even do that?”, he asked confused. “Did you forget you said I am a hostage?” There was literally no reason why this man would be so pesky persistent in ensuring his wellbeing. Anger started to nag at him. Why was it that every time he was with this man in one room he got utterly frustrated with him out of nowhere? 

Thresh seemed to be totally unimpressed by everything he just had to say it was unbelievable that he spoke with a real person. “First of all you are simply a guest in this house. And I have no intention to make your stay needlessly unbearable”, he explained calmly. “Everything else will be resolved at the appropriate time. The only thing I will dare to request from you is to accept you are in need of help.” 

Jhin needed no one’s help. He was fine. He could get along. He was sure he could handle this by himself. “Did it ever come to your mind that I don't want your help?”, he spat. 

“Of course”, he confessed indulgently. “But I hope that by now you have realized that in your current condition you have no place left to be safe.” He paused as he was about to consider his words hesitantly and sighed deeply. “Forgive me my diction but … you are about to jump the next man crossing your path.” Thresh met his eyes with an apologizing look. 

Oh.

So he indeed had noticed before. That hit Jhin hard. Very hard. 

He couldn’t say if it was out of embarrassment or frustration or anything else, but it was so shattering that he was left in acquiescence. Maybe it was everything at once and he was about to accept that Thresh was right. And Jhin had to admit he hated him being right. “Fine.” It was useless anyway. No matter how hard he would try Thresh wouldn’t just let him go and he was tired of wasting his energy. Jhin had just no choice. The worst thing that could happen was that he was about to strain this man’s patience with him. 

Thresh took his time before he spoke once more. “One last thing”, he said in a manner that indicated this conversation was about to come to an end as he focused his attention back on his notepad. 

Jhin sighed. “What?”

“I would insist you to not enter this office without permission”, he demanded without looking up a second time. 

*

Evelynn was so small and yet so elegant; compared to him she was actually tiny but she had a great skill in compromising her size with shadows and skin. She loved popping colors like hot pink and purple and her rooms were a balanced and tasteful mixture of her medical profession and her own feminine touch. She had an excellent way in dressing formally with a secretly suggestive tint of her true, dominant nature. It was bewildering how she was able to set the tone of her very specific preferences without being offensive directly. Despite her height she was the epitome of a woman from head to heels. Appealing. Charming. But most of all, intimidating. 

“Don’t mind him”, she said after finishing her examination, rolling off her pink gloves to throw them in a bin next by. “He can’t help himself.” It was not the case that he had started to complain about the matter. She had just asked because she knew very well something was wrong. And Jhin simply couldn’t refuse her. 

He narrowed his eyes in disbelief. “You say I should feel sorry for him?” 

She shook her head slightly. “What I say is that he had no chance. The moment he thought of you being in danger his heart melted.” Then she shrugged. “He can’t just pass by and not pay attention. Especially if the person is someone so … cute and sweet like you.” She explained and licked her lips secretive. Jhin felt uncomfortable about her choice of words. Jhin hated to be betitled in such a way. It filled him with nothing but aversion for no particular reason. “And I must say he’s not completely wrong.”, she added firmly. 

“I am not weak. I can take care of myself.” He tried to insist but he had to admit he sounded more like a stubborn child than an responsible adult who was indeed able to take care of himself. 

She made a dismissive gesture with her hands to indicate how he had possibly come to the wrong conclusion. “That’s not what I suggested, darling.” Her tone was sincere and convincing. Then she pointed at his arm with one of her nails. “Whoever fixed that did a pretty sloppy job. It’s a miracle you are even alive.” Her tone was dry but he assumed it must have been due to her occupation of being a medical expert. 

However it was unsettling to hear about such a possibility. Anxiety and worry came over him when he reminded himself that he barely knew anything of what had happened to him and it begged the question if he truly wished to reveal his own past; if he actually wanted his memories back when he had to fear that piece by piece he was going to unfold dreadful secrets and maybe horror beyond believe. 

He stopped in his thoughts when he heard her soft voice once more. “Trust me, honey.”, she said after a while in an encouraging voice and her lips curled into a sweet smile. “Deep down he already knows you are innocent. He just needs proof to backen his intuition.”

“How do you know?” Jhin truly wanted to know because he was sure she was willing to answer. 

“Isn’t that obvious? Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seems like the first morning wasn't so pleased for Jhin, hm?   
> At least we are slowly getting somewhere! Hopefully these two idiots will get along in the future!
> 
> I wish you all a great upcoming Christmas Eve and Happy New Year!


	7. The Fox Lady

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *no warning to apply   
> just more fluff and bounding with your new, strange family members

Soon he learned that the house was mostly very quiet. Everyone seemed to be busy with certain kinds of tasks or occupied by their work. He hadn’t seen Neeko the entire day which was supposed to mean that even the feisty girl had her obligations to fulfill. He wondered if he could talk a bit longer to Eve though it was still uncomfortable for him being around her - he had a hope that this feeling would fade away once he got used to her - but decided against his thought because he didn’t want to bother her. He thought of Kalista and reminded himself that this was no smart option so far. 

Jhin felt useless and left out. But most of all he felt lonely. He had no problem with being alone. He had been alone most of his entire life and he never had people he could rely on; especially not his father but being forced to be surrounded by people who seem to have close connections with each other only to realize he had absolutely no reason to be around them, was depressing. Thresh said he was a guest but if that was actually true to begin with then he was merely just an uninvited one. 

The worst thing was that Jhin didn’t even know if he truly wanted to be invited; if he wanted to be an important piece in this group of people. It felt not right and he wasn’t used to such mundane social interactions at all. Jhin remembered he hadn’t spoken with someone more than just two words for years. It filled him to the brim with something he never experienced before; unfamiliar and utterly strange. He was not used to any of this; the kind words, the ministrations, the expressions of being interested in his safety. That was all new. He didn’t know how to deal with that and he was afraid of begging the question if he even wanted to get a glimpse of all of these things for he knew he would maybe miss them once they were gone. 

His thoughts ran either in circles or were torn between making decisions and not wanting to even have to make decisions at all. He wished for something to do; at least something small and insignificant that was able to distract him for a while. Maybe not only from his thoughts alone but from the nagging feeling burning deep inside him too. 

He aimed for the easiest thing he could find and read a book for his room was, to his own surprise, stuffed with them. It was like they had expected a visitor all along, which couldn’t be the case or they were aware of their time being rare and combined with a long absence and they liked to insist the guests of the house didn’t die of sheer boredom. Whatever it was, he was just glad to choose from a wide range. He found a few children’s books between the arranged collection and guessed that these must have come from Neeko. Jhin caught himself smiling to himself about his own guessing. 

He found literature from forgein planets in a language he couldn’t read and, what surprised him even more, from Runeterra. Jhin was not sentimental but even he realized that in a far away place sometimes it’s better to stick to something he knew …

When dinner rolled by, he witnessed how quickly the peace in this house changed to busy activities and on top of that loud chattering. Very loud chattering. It was so dominant and present there was literally no way to ignore it even further. Jhin gave his book another try before resignedly coming to terms that it was useless and closed it. It had been a sweet amusement while it lasted for the rest of the day. 

Jhin sighed. He had no intention to meet these people for another round of polite conversation and dining with them but he was sure these things would become some kind of routine. There was literally no excuse he could think about to avoid this chaos. He could just tell them he was sick but Evelynn would probably check on him and prove him a liar and if he just told them he wasn’t actually hungry they would definitely be insulted. They even cooked especially just for him which was such a sweet gesture on its own he simply could not resist. He placed the book aside on the bedside table and left the room. 

*

He had trouble following most of the conversations. They talked about work or other daily activities and Jhin felt left out. He neither had the chance to do something productive or entertaining that was in any way worth to be mentioned nor did he feel like he had a real right to even speak without being asked beforehand. 

Jhin almost jumped when he heard Fiora right next to him asking something. It was so out of nowhere that for a moment he didn't even realize it was indeed him she was talking to. “Where do you come from?” She asked once more, sounding sincerely interested and if she recognized his daydreaming she plainly didn’t mind. 

He tensed for a moment. “Runeterra”, he said and after a while as he recognized how rude his hasty reply must sound, he added quickly: “I mean Ionia, Ma'am.” 

“Ah, ‘ow wonderful.” He couldn’t get behind if she was actually excited or simply pleased by his answer. However, Jhin had a clue that it could be both at the same time only because Fiora seemed, apart from him, the only human actually living in this house and maybe she missed being in company with someone else from Runeterra. He knew he was just about to make a vague assumption but it became more reassuring the more he thought about it. “You must tell us everything. We’ve never been to Ionia.”

He blinked in confusion. “None of you?” The urge to look around the table was almost irresistible but he managed to hold it at bay. 

Thresh gave him a smile that seemed almost challenging. “Fiora is glad when she can actually leave her desk.”

She made a piqued snorting sound. “That’s rich, coming from you.” 

“At least I don’t forget about dinner regularly.” Thresh said, raising an eyebrow. 

Fiora narrowed his eyes. “That was one time!” She exclaimed before she decided to dedicate her attention back to Jhin. “See how unforgiving ‘e is?” 

Jhin was wise enough not to answer her question. He simply took a mental note that avoiding dinner was indeed not a great idea unless he wanted to be the next target of Thresh’s crossfire of teasing just because he was sure the man wouldn’t be so delightful with him as he was with his Vice Admiral. 

“What have you done today, Neeko dear?” Eve asked while placing an elbow on the table leaning closer to her. 

Neeko stopped abruptly. taking her time to gulp down the remaining pieces in her mouth. She blinked like she was caught by a very precarious task and licked her fingers slowly while thinking. Then her lips curled into a proud and excited smile. “Oh, Pyke showed me how to use a gun!”, she exclaimed happily. 

Thresh looked like he was about to choke on his wine. He set the glass down very slowly. For a moment Jhin thought he was about to cough. “He did WHAT?” His voice was tainted with indignation. 

Eve smirked playfully. “Calm down, honey.” Her hand waved in a calming gesture. “She is old enough. She should know by now how to handle a gun.” 

Kalista cleared her throat from the corner of the table. “I agree.” She muttered darkly and hadn't she said anything at all, Jhin hadn’t even noticed she was right here. 

Thresh didn’t look amused. Instead he glared at everyone at the table aside from Jhin, which he was thankful for before he finally came to a conclusion. “I will have a talk with him.” He said firmly. 

“That won’t be necessary.” Fiora insisted. 

“You already talked to him?”, he asked. 

“Oui, chéri.” She insured. Her lips raised into a feisty smile. “I was the one permitting it.”

Jhin couldn’t resist smiling on his own. 

*

The next morning he rose early. He either hadn’t slept well or he was awake half of the night; distracting himself with reading. Neeko did not visit him; he was as thankful for that as he was upset about her absence but he assumed that after the whole day of training, she had been very tired. Maybe too tired to spend a midnightly visit to slake her curiosity. He reminded himself that Thresh seemed disapproving the last time he had missed breakfast and since he was about to be on the tick, he decided that it was a very wise decision to not disappoint this man a second time. 

Jhin thought dinner was already the epitome of chaotic behavior and frantic conversations but breakfast in this house was an entire new world. Although everyone was wide awake they were also utterly unfocused and it was far less … formal. At least Neeko and Fiora looked like they just tumbled straight out of bed or, in Fiora’s case, didn’t even go to bed at all; with messy hair and bags under their eyes. Fiora didn’t even change into something proper and sipped her tea just in some casual shirt. It was kinda bizarre to see the firm woman in anything other than her full attire. He glanced around and saw Eve and Kalista in a corner of the kitchen trying to cook something that reminded Jhin vaguely of pancakes while they whispered jittery with each other. 

He had to appreciate that the kitchen itself was a far more welcoming and cozier place than the dining room. Aside from all the few things with no other purpose than to complete the overall established aesthetic, it was stuffed with everything modern that was needed. This weird style of technology and antiquity wafted through the entire estate. There was still a large table in the middle of the room but less neatly plated; just overthrown with everything that needs to be there. From a large tea set to a kettle that smelled like it could contain nothing else than coffee. Jhin wasn’t even that hungry but the view and the smell alone was charming enough to make him hungry. 

Thresh raised his glance from his notepad and his lips curled into a soft smile. “Good morning.” His voice was lacking his usual serious tone. It came close to something Jhin would describe as mirth. “Did you sleep well?”

Jhin took his moment before answering hesitantly. He had slept terribly that night but he feared the nightmares far more than lacking a few hours of rest. “Yes”, he lied; assuming that not telling the truth would be better than to make them necessarily worry about him. Who was afraid of some ridiculous nightmares anyway? He was a grown man and therefore he was able to deal with issues like that on his own. There was no need to let them know. 

Eve passed quickly by with a large pan. “Take a seat, sweetie.” She smiled. “I have made you eggs.” Jhin did as he was told and as soon as he finally took a seat for himself next to Thresh - it was the only one left - he witnessed her as she eagerly loaded his plate right out of the frying pan. After that she met Kalista again by the stove to continue whatever kind of project they were about to create. 

He watched as Thresh carefully put his notepad aside and had the levity to yawn into the back of his hand. “Do you prefer coffee or tea?”, he asked attentively. Jhin could not resist to recognize how serene he seemed to be this morning and he couldn’t avoid the question if Thresh was like this every morning and just turned strict and rigid over the day. “You have an appointment today.” He added in a more firm tone shortly afterward which backend Jhin’s assumption quite a bit. 

“Tea, please”, he answered before he frowned. “What kind of appointment would that be?” Jhin asked and tried his best to not sound either ungrateful or wary. The word “appointment'' alone was firm enough to spike his scepticism. He hoped he didn’t have to visit another kind of medical professional. Eve was scary enough on her own and he couldn’t get rid of the strange feeling that being around a doctor made him anxious for no particular reason. 

Thresh poured him a cup of tea and passed it carefully over the table. “You will see in the afternoon”, he said while doing so with a soft smile. To Jhin’s dislike he had to admit that this was even more unsettling. 

“Oh, it’s a surprise!” Neeko chirped from her seat. “Neeko loves surprises!” She added while she refilled her bowl with colorful sprinkles of something that looked absolutely sweet and definitely not healthy. A great amount of the content of the carton just rolled over the remaining area of the table and got lost between plates and bowls or just vanished on the floor. No one seemed to care about the mess she just made. 

Kalista placed the plate with pancakes down and took a seat. She frowned at Neeko’s disaster but shrugged it off. “Did you finish your report?” She asked her brother instead. 

“I did.” Thresh said taut as he refilled his cup with coffee. 

She narrowed her eyes at his reply and filled her cup with coffee right to the brim without even looking. “What did you tell her?” She wanted to know with a skeptical tone.

Thresh shrugged. “The truth, of course”, he said. “The mission was indeed a failure.” Jhin felt uncomfortable. He had a certain feeling this mission was the exact same one where the man just decided to take him in and it made him anxious to know that he was just an unfortunate byproduct they had to deal with now. What if the mission would have been a success? Would they have still met? Jhin doubted that and he hoped he wasn’t the mere reason their assignment went wrong. 

“What about him?” Kalista asked and while she didn’t even dared to point in his direction Jhin knew she was talking about him. 

“Jhin will stay a secret.” he said unyieldingly while he gave her a piercing glance. 

Kalista glared at him. “She won’t like that … when she finds out.” She hissed. 

Fiora sighed from her side of the table. “But ‘e’s right, Kalista”, she interrupted with a mixture of tiredness and emphasis. “Jhin is in far more danger if the Queen knows about ‘im.”

Why? 

He wanted to ask but he didn’t dare to bring up the question. An unsettling feeling creeped over him and told Jhin it would be by far better if he didn’t know what would happen to him once this secret got revealed. No matter what Thresh planned to do with him, it seemed to be far less worse than the consequences he might face when their Queen would be informed about his stay. Something told him that Thresh must have known from the beginning that he wasn’t cooperating with the enemy at all and the only reason he was here has something to do with the apprehension that Her Majesty won’t see it the same way.

Suddenly Jhin wished to know in what kind of bad condition he must have been in if the first impulse of this man was to make sure he was safe instead of assuming he was a foe. Maybe Evelynn was actually right. When Thresh would not already be convinced he’s in some kind of danger, he truly wouldn’t be here. 

It made sense to him that perhaps he literally had, aside from his strange condition, no place to go for the Demaxian Empire would probably search from him for whatever reason he can’t tell and no one would believe him to be innocent at all. No one, expect for these weird bunch of people who just had the nerve to welcome him with open arms. 

Eve filled the remaining place of his plate with pancakes. “Eat your eggs before they get cold, darling.” She said, offering a cheerful smile. 

*

As afternoon crept closer Jhin’s anxiety rose with every passing second. He really wished to know what kind of appointment Thresh had planned for him. His mind was filled with horrible scenarios that might be possible and impossible at the same time. Only because his voice didn’t explicitly indicate it was going to be serious or even unpleasant. Yet Jhin had to remind himself that he barely knew this man and his obliging behavior could be just nothing more than mere acting. 

Deeply he wanted to know his true intentions for his attentive manners and constant assurance of Jhin’s wellbeing and mood were slowly going to crawl their way into him. Thresh had a thing on himself that made it hard for Jhin to … resist his small bits of sincere attention and that was the only reason he desperately hoped the man was just trying to trick him in any kind of way. Furthermore his current state was not helping him to simply ignore these subtle attempts of affection. It was mundane at most but his condition craved and searched for it at any given moment Jhin had the misfortune to be in a room with him. 

He almost jumped when the door opened without a warning and he wished that he might get the privilege to lock it in the future for some privacy. Thresh entered, followed by a tall and slim woman who seemed overbearingly happy and pleased with everything but mostly with herself. A playful smile on her lips. 

“Who … is she?” Jhin asked suspiciously while he gave her a quick but thoughtful look. She was … half human, if Jhin had to tell the truth for she could not deny her offspring of being a Vastaya at all. Not with the magnificent beauty of her radiant tails and her prominent large ears. Aside from her bright and colorful traditional dressing which was unique to certain regions of Ionia, her hair shimmered in a soft and warm pink. Overall she looked like an ancient princess dressed in silk. 

“This is Ahri. She will be your company for the afternoon.” Thresh explained. A cascade of relief rushed over Jhin. He had expected that his appointment was going to be far worse but now he came to the assumption that it promised something entirely different. Perhaps something that could be at least entertaining. 

Said Lady made a small curtsy before speaking for herself. “Seamstress of the Queen and most popular fashion icon of the Cosmic Court at your service. I heard we have an accident here that needs to be fixed?” Her ears were twitching with eagerness like she was about to start right now and there. Jhin beamed with joy about her introduction. So he guessed right. This will be an entertaining afternoon. Maybe even some fun. 

Thresh looked at her and sighed. “Why do you always have to be so dramatic?” He asked, slightly irritated by her overwhelming attitude. 

She made a humming sound as to imply she was utterly unimpressed by his statement. “There is no other choice than to be dramatic when it comes to your commissions.” She replied while throwing back her long, pink hair. “Did you forget the last time you hired me?” Ahri narrowed her eyes hostilely. “Neeko bite me!”

Jhin blinked before speaking. “She is going to tailor something for me?” He had trouble holding back his excitement and tried his best to not sound obviously delighted about this turn of events. 

Thresh completely ignored the incident with his daughter and offered him a weak smile. “I hope she does. That’s what I pay her for.” And as he ended his sentence he threw a dark glare at her. 

Ahri gave him an emphatic look. “Don’t worry. I will do a much better job than the last time. He seems more cooperating than your little girl.” She said that with a tone that was quite unsettling because the way she emphasized the word ‘cooperating’ sounded like a dark promise. More like a threat than a compliment if it was a compliment to begin with. “And at least someone in this noble house should comply with the dress code of the Cosmic Court.”, she said with a sweet and forgiving smile while she dared to look directly in Thresh’s direction. “Now, hush, hush! Away with you! I need to work with my new …”, she paused and gave him a smile that seemed mischievous enough to let Jhin wonder if he really wanted to be alone with her in a room. “Project.”, she ended promising. 

Thresh made an annoyed sound. “Go easy on him. He’s a soft soul”, he said, before he turned on his heels and left the room. Jhin felt his cheeks burn at the comment. 

As soon as the door closed behind him, Ahri draped herself on the bed and sighed in relief. Her tails flowing in the air like they were snakes. “Ah, finally. I thought he would never go!” She turned around to let her feet lazily dangle from the bed. “Now, tell me, what are you doing here, darling?” Her ears twitched in curiosity. Jhin had to keep in mind that she stated earlier, she was the seamstress of the Queen herself and suspicion rose inside him. 

“I am a visitor.”, he tried timidly. It wasn’t actually a lie. He was indeed some kind of visitor. 

Her lips turned into a grin without teeth. “A visitor without proper apparel, I see.” She sighed deeply. “How strange.”

Jhin thought lying would help him best. “Thresh said I should wear something more fitting for the Court.”

She blinked in surprise. “Oh, I never thought of him having a sense of fashion!” She beamed with glee. “But he is right. We can’t let you run around in … whatever that is!” She said as she pointed with her polished nails at him in distaste. Jhin had to admit sober she was right. 

Ahri rose from the bed and opened the purse she was carrying with her. “Now! What do you want?” She asked excitedly. “Lapis is the dernier cri, if I am allowed to make a suggestion.”

“I … can make wishes?” Jhin asked insecurely. He had assumed that the Lady was just here to give him just anything that would solely fit his stature and assured that he would look less like he was an ominous foreigner with bad luck. But she sounded like he had a chance of choosing something that was not only supposed to be just practical and cover the mere definition of clothing. Something he would actually … like. 

The Lady smiled while waving away his concerns with a gesture of her hand. “Of course, my dear. I was instructed on creating everything after your liking.” Before he had a chance to interfere a second time, she was right at his side; narrowing her eyes thoughtfully. Ahri circuited around him a few times, making humming noises before it seemed she finally found what she was looking for and turned back to her purse. 

“Everything?”, he asked while raising a brow. It was not like he wanted to insult her or doubted her skill but he had a feeling that she could trick her into believing she was commanded to fulfill his wishes at her best only to make a very lucrative deal for herself. She was a Vastaya after all; a fox offspring on top of that. They were known for their tendency to trick people with either their charme of wit. 

For a moment Ahri hesitated before she finally came to a quick decision and spilled the entire content of her bag on the bed. Scissors, measuring tapes, a full set of pins, a grant variation of fabric samples. Between the chaos there was a notebook and pen she was looking for. “Tch! I am not the Seamstress of Queen Ashe II for nothing. I can work wonders!” She grabbed the notebook and flipped frantically through it to a new page. 

“Hit me with your best shot!” She grinned in a provoking manner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while but I am finally back! I hope your Holidays had been great!   
> We are slowly crawling towards the actual plot I promise! But first things first Jhin needed some new clothes. He can't run arround the entire plot with something burrowed. Whoops.


	8. Anger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *CN: swearing, mild sexual suggestions (?) I am not sure if it counts but better save than sorry)

“Ouch!”

“Hold still!”

“You do this on purpose, you devious woman!” Jhin hissed. 

“I would do it less if you weren’t such a fragile, whiny crybaby!” Ahri snapped. 

It had been a nice afternoon so far. Ahri was, despite her very overconfident attitude, a decent and sweet Lady. She was playful, creative and very skilled. And she had never dismissed any of his ideas; just adding advice and tips and encouraging him to come up with something more daring, more colorful and more elegant. They had discussed various concepts firstly for a few hours while she had done nothing else than scribbling sketches after his imaginations and she was willing to scrap everything that was to his personal distaste. And while she seemed to be nothing else than interested in fulfilling a professional job, he had no concern when she suggested that she had to take his measurements for future references. It made sense for he remembered that in the past he actually had created his own clothing back in Ionia and working with her was a familiar feeling not only because they seemed to share the same homeland. 

But as it came to try out the grant variation of patterns and assuring that ideas they had in mind would actually fit and work, things became a bit tricky. Ahri was a skilled woman but she was far from being cautious. And Jhin realized why he insisted on tailoring his own clothes in the past for so long. He really hated the part with the pins she used to stick fabric to his body. 

They both froze when the door opened without a warning. “What, in the name of the gods, is going on here?” Thresh demanded to know with a firm voice. “You can be heard in the entire house.” Jhin felt how the heat crawled up his neck over the statement. The knowledge that their bickering was known by everyone filled him with embarrassment and raised the question of what they assumed Ahri and him were actually doing behind closed doors. All of a sudden this was about to become a very awkward situation. 

Ahri sighed deeply disappointed by this sudden outburst. “My customer is a wimp.” She simply stated while shrugging innocently. Jhin twisted his lips at her comment disapproving. 

Thresh narrowed his eyes admonitory. “Ahri, I don’t pay you for torturing this poor man.” 

“That’s your fault. But it seems we are done here anyway.” She waved with one of her hands reassuring before starting to gather her things back into her mysterious purse. “I’ll come back in a week with the pretty creations I am about to make and payment.” She narrowed her eyes belligerent. “Hopefully he ain’t such a beast when it comes to fitting.” Jhin could see the hideous, fiendish smile she offered him. 

She tugged out one of the pins at his shoulder and pricked him anew. “Ouch!” Jhin knew this time it was definitely intentional. That one hurt a lot. 

“Hold still, I said.” She said before she continued to quickly remove the other pins which were holding together loose samples of fabric draped over and around his body. 

From a corner of his eye he could see Thresh’s eyes widening as Ahri worked the pins out of him. “I told you to go easy on him, Miss.”

After she was done, and Jhin was thankful that she worked fast, she stuffed the samples hasty into her bag. “I tried my best! Maybe you should teach your beloved darling to stand idle.” She looked up from her doing to offer him a sweet smile as if nothing ever happened. “Well, it was nice to meet you Khada Jhin.” Then she switched attention back to Thresh and her lips curled into a wolfish grin. “Always a pleasure making business with you, Grand Admiral.” She took a bow in the most mocking way possible. 

Jhin wished he would be less delicate to such misguided pet names; especially if there was even the slightest hint of involving this man. He felt heat creeping up his neck and he was very glad that everyone around him might just assume he was shy in general and not for a particular reason. 

Thresh did not mind her poor attempt of provocation. Instead he made a gesture with his hand to indicate Ahri simply to leave. “Evelynn will show you the way.” 

Her ears twitched curious. “Ah, how mindful of her.” Ahri beamed with a suggestive tone in her voice before she left the room. 

Jhin allowed himself to sigh. 

He watched as Thresh looked after her thoughtfully before he closed the door, Ahri was so oblivious leaving open on purpose. Then he turned to him with a concerned look. “Did she hurt you?” He asked worriedly. 

“No, I …” Jhin started and came quickly to a halt to think about his answer. When he was honest, and he tried to be for the most time, she hadn’t done anything like that at all. “She was very nice. I was just … nervous. I’m sorry.” It was simply the fact that he didn’t expect Ahri to be so remarkably fierce. 

“Oh, don’t apologize, please.” Thresh said with a reassuring gesture of his hand. “It was my fault. I should have told you right away, but I …” His words came quickly to an end as it seemed he lacked the ability to express what he meant. Or, what seemed to be much more conclusive to Jhin, he hesitated to speak his mind openly.

Jhin tried to make a brave guess. “You thought it would be a surprise.” He said with a bit of amusement; resisting the urge to give into a provoking smile. 

Thresh did not answer right away. His dark lips turned into a thin line before he finally spoke. “Yes.” He sounded defeated and meekly. Both confused Jhin at first, but it was a very delightful view to see this man trip over his words and watch him as he seemed to realize he made a great mistake that he needed to fix. Aside from that it was a wholesome and warm feeling that he admitted so openly in front of him that it should have been indeed a surprise. Jhin didn’t know what to think about this confession, but it was undoubtedly flattering. 

He decided to let him dangle on his hook a little longer. Just out of the fear of losing his own defense for he couldn’t refuse to let the man touch his heart. “A surprise indeed.” He replied, his voice dripping with false sarcasm. 

He noticed how Thresh seemed to tense for a moment which spiked his confusion. It gave the impression the man was actually upset about his staged disapproval. Jhin wondered if his intentional sarcasm wasn’t obvious enough to be unmasked as an ungraceful attempt of mockery or if Thresh just lacked the ability to understand a sardonic comment at all. “I beg your pardon. I must have scared you.” Thresh said, deeply regretful.

Suddenly, Jhin felt bad for even trying to fool him. “Actually I had a very good time.” He confessed abashedly. 

In return Thresh gave him a puzzled look before his face lightened up. “I’m glad to hear that.” His lips twisting into a soft smile. As he seemed to realize his own actions and got aware of his behavior, he instantly snapped back to attention and was about to leave the room. “I should watch after Ahri. She has a thing for mistaking every meeting with Evelynn as an invitation to stay longer than necessary.” 

“Wait, please.” Jhin requested hasty and Thresh stopped in his tracks almost immediately. He hadn’t expected the man to listen to his demand so willingly. Now Jhin was uncertain if he even wanted to speak his mind and above that he didn’t even know how to voice his matter without sounding rude. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but …” He started timidly. and thought of himself as being nothing but a fool. “Why did you do this?”

At this Thresh raised an eyebrow. “I just thought you would like to wear something you actually enjoy and I can’t keep you running around in borrowed clothes forever. That would be highly inappropriate.” He explained quite honestly. Jhin couldn’t deny that this kind of care was indeed affectionately for it implied the man had truly thought about how he might feel in his current position and state. Jhin had no doubt to believe Thresh really tried his best to make his stay as comfortable as possible. 

But this wasn’t what he actually meant, so he pressed forward. “No, I mean … All of this.” He said and suddenly he didn’t know what he wanted to hear anymore or why he asked at all. It was pretty obvious for Thresh had tried to explain this to him many times before more or less. Still, Jhin couldn’t get behind it to its full extent. It felt so utterly odd and almost treacherous to treat him with kindness and nearly overload him with complaisances. He had a suspicious feeling that all of them wanted something from him as an exchange; something aside from all the information his memories could provide and he didn’t dare to imagine what this could be. 

Thresh took his time to come up with a response. The silence was unsettling and Jhin thought he had crossed the line of the patience this man was capable to behold for him. “As I told you before, I am responsible for you for the mere reason that it’s my fault you are even in this position and since I can’t neither change that nor can’t I let you go, the only thing I can do is to keep you as safe as possible”, he tried to explain. 

Jhin listened closely for this was the first time he was actually willing to listen to anything this man had to offer to him. His voice, calm and soft. And it completely lacked that irritating firm tone he usually insisted when he was talking to him anytime this conversation was about to come up between them. It was a welcoming ease he was about to accept. 

“Now more than ever since I know you seem to be in a very precarious situation beforehand and I have no intention to turn you in when it’s quite clear you are in serious danger”, he finally added after a pause. Jhin was not sure if this was just plausible enough to believe or actually reassuring. Still, Jhin was uncertain though his words made sense. This man had literally no intention to offer his help to some kind of stranger. Furthermore, he was willingly putting himself and maybe his whole family at risk. Kalista had said the queen wouldn’t be far from pleased if she found out about him being their shared secret and yet here he was and Thresh was even defending him right in front of her. 

“You don’t have to do anything like this.” Jhin finally said after a while; he sounded obviously confused to his own dislike.

Thresh sighed. “Of course I do”, he said sincerely. “I would not forgive myself if something would happen to you.” That was his last word because after that he just left and let Jhin alone with himself. 

It was a moment later, when realisation hit him hard and unforgivingly. Jhin remembered something. A glimpse from the past, and it filled his stomach with ice and clenched his throat with anxiety. Panic was about to rise inside him as he realized what it meant if he kept his sudden grip of knowledge a secret while at the same time having no other choice than to do so. Whatever kind of trust they had offered him and all the kindness they had met him with would vanish in a blink of an eye. 

He had killed someone. 

*

As contradictory as it sounded, Jhin didn’t want to be left alone with his own thoughts. He had a bad feeling that his anxiety would grind him between its fingers until nothing was left of him and he didn’t trust himself well enough in his current state to be alone. He needed distraction. Aside from that he wasn’t able to come up with an ideal solution to his predicament for every option he was left with was equally destructive. If he decided to withhold his sudden serendipity about his own past, the outcome would be catastrophic in the end once it was finally revealed. They would come to the conclusion he did it on purpose to secure his safety and prevent himself from being marked as a murderer even though he knew that was more or less very close to the truth. If he would tell them right away, they would without a doubt do the exact same. There was no chance he could turn this to his advantage or mitigate the consequences he had to face. 

Jhin had killed someone. He was a murderer. He didn’t know exactly if this was the reason why Zed had captured him in the first place, but he was sure that the assumption was suggestive enough to be the very case. It explained a lot and nothing at all. It was far from being a plausible clarification to his altered body and physical condition; why he felt so utterly miserable and unbearable feverish all the time, why his thoughts constantly were dragged back to the mere primitive need to assuage his flaming hunger. But it was an acceptable explanation why he got trapped into this misery all along and maybe why he even deserved it. 

He shared the parlor with Fiora, who was currently occupied with a book. It was a warm and comfy room. Just like the rest of the house. With a very big fireplace and stuffed with expensive, but worn furniture. The whole furnishings had definitely seen some better days. It was like the whole Manson was abandoned for a very long time and after years of desolation was filled with life once more. It gave the vague impression they all hadn’t lived here all their life and he wondered who had lived here once before. Maybe he would find out some day. 

They didn’t talk much but he enjoyed her company nonetheless. She had a day off from work and Jhin was polite enough to not disturb her. 

“Did you ‘ave a nice day with Ahri?” She suddenly asked, as she turned to the next page.

He could not resist the smile crawling into his face. “Yes, Ma'am.” He had indeed a nice day with the vastayan Lady. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t even the chance to actually show Thresh his gratitude. Instead he had just asked him useless and unnecessary questions all over again. Jhin made a mental note to make good for his impolite behavior as soon as he got the chance to do so. 

“Don’t be so formal. You can call me Fiora if you wish.” She said and looked up to him with a small smile upon her face. Then she narrowed her eyes in a warning manner. A quick and unexpected shift that confused him because he didn’t know where her sudden change in mood appeared so abruptly. “Just Fiora. Not Fio. I really ‘ate this name.” She added, her forehead wrinkled in deep furrows. These people did their best to be nothing but kind and attentive towards him. He shouldn’t take this for granted. 

Before Fiora had a chance to reply, Kalista came out of the kitchen and draped herself right next to him on the canapé. She sighed deep and raspy, before leaning back. Maybe she was too exhausted from preparing dinner with Eve, Jhin assumed, and she hadn’t even noticed that she had chosen a spot next to him. Perhaps she would leave the exact moment she realized her doing. “I am so glad when my stupid brother has to cook next week.” She said brisky, turning her head in his direction. So she was indeed speaking to him and it was indeed intentional from her. Jhin felt his heart pound in his chest. 

She was a whole different type than Fiora or Eve, but he was scared of her nonetheless. Maybe a bit more than the rest. Kalista did not possess the kind of authority Fiora was able to establish in a room immediately once she entered, but yet she was impressive in her own personal way. She was calm and silent most of the time for she barely spoke and her face, old and worn out, was always scowling. There was deep and frightening anger bubbling underneath her stoic behavior, ready to burst out at any given moment. Compared to her brother, Kalista’s range of patience seemed short-tempered and her wrath, once released, would be a devastating blow. 

Fiora looked up from her book. “You really eat what Thresh cooks voluntarily?” She asked with a surprised tone. 

As a response Kalista simply shrugged. “I had worse, as you know.” She said before leaning closer to him. “Don’t trust Fiora’s rumors. He isn’t that bad.” Her voice sounded threatening but Jhin had to admit that her voice was always sounding like she was about to snap every second. Thresh had mentioned casually that his sister was always angry. Firstly, he had thought it was just a nonchalant attempt to provide reassurance, but it seemed it was no understatement. 

Jhin took a moment to consider his answer. “I will see for myself.” It was better to not take a side so soon and come to a false assumption right in front of Thresh’s sister. 

Kalista seemed pleased by his answer as she nodded in approval. “Good boy.” 

The door opened. Thresh entered and for a moment, he seemed surprised as his glance met Jhin. “Good evening.” He greeted after finally coming back to his senses. Then he looked around like he was looking for something very specific and very important. “Has someone seen Neeko?” He finally stated with some concern in his voice.

“I ‘aven’t seen her since breakfast.” Fiora answered while turning to another page. She hesitated for a moment before speaking. “How strange. She should be back already.”

Next to him, Jhin felt Kalista giving off a shrug. “Maybe she is just exploring the attic and forgot about time again.” Her rough voice sounded oddly reassuring. Jhin wondered how often they were forced to look after Neeko only to find her hours later in some unexpected place being totally occupied with something of her own, special interest. Kalista sounded like that was nearly a daily business by now and they were already used by the girl constantly getting lost. 

Before Thresh had a chance to respond, the door opened once more. Said girl entered gleefully the parlor like she was summoned on demand. Right after her followed a man of average height. Compared to Jhin he was actually kinda small. He seemed muscular, with broad shoulders and a strong neck, even though his thick coat gave of the impression of him being a little overset. A scarf was covering most of his face, including his nose. “I am so sorry, mate. Neeko wanted to go shopping and I …” He trailed off; stopping right in his tracks as if he was hit by something of brute force. He caught his breath heavily and as he was able to collect himself, his eyes observed the room in a curious manner. He stopped in his motion the moment he spotted Jhin. 

“Ah, look what we have here.” He said in a deep tone. His eyes fixated him right through the rest of the small crowd; dangerous and treacherously salacious. Jhin felt small and tiny under his gaze as if he was nothing but prey and the man was ready to attack him right in front of so many people; completely ignoring the consequences such an assault might cause in the end. He wanted to flee immediately. He had a bad feeling this situation was about to quickly slip out of control and he would like to hide somewhere far more safe. 

“Get yourself together, Pyke.” Kalista warned. Her voice was merely a whisper but still unyielding. She placed one of her hands on top of his own and Jhin almost withdrew from the unexpected touch; highly alerted and ready to flee. Then he realized it was just a subtle gesture of reassurance; a modest sign to show him that she was willing to offer alliance. 

“Don't worry. Ya know, I’ll be nothing but nice to him.” Pyke said fairly unimpressed like her warning seemed to be nothing else than a sensible overreaction of her own. Jhin saw how his mouth moved under the fabric of his scarf. It reminded him of someone who licked their lips. “Why don’tcha come over and give Uncle Pyke a kiss, aye?” He made a step forward to slowly come closer. Jhin was overwhelmed by the immense urge to just run away. Yet, he felt unable to move at all; especially with Kalista’s hand still on his own. 

Thresh stepped closer, blocking his way. “Don’t even dare.” He admonished in a threatening voice. 

Despite the fact that it wasn’t possible to see Pyke’s mouth move, he still possessed the odd ability to let people know if he was about to smile. His eyes had this unnerving glint of malice and while he spoke, he completely ignored Thresh; he didn’t even take his time to consider looking at him to pay him full attention. “Aw, come on. I just want to play.” He assured in an amusing tone that implied unsettling suggestiveness to Jhin’s taste and was far from being reliable. 

A wave of relief washed over Jhin when he noticed that Thresh wasn’t going to believe him as well. “If you harm him in any kind of way, I will kill you right now.” Thresh declared strict and unforgivingly. 

Beside him Kalista tensed for a moment. “You will not shed blood in this house, brother.” She insisted coldly. 

Pyke tilted his head to one side and for the first time took his glance away from him to observe Kalista in the background. “You should listen to Kali. We’re friends, remember?” He said while his attention, for the first time, turned to the man before him. Jhin assumed that the threat of killing him was truly serious enough to at least make him listen, which he was thankful for. 

“If you’re not able to behave in front of my guest, I insist on you leaving.” Thresh replied, utterly ignoring his interjection of them being friends. It seemed like he didn’t even waste a single thought about Pyke’s attempt of negotiation. Once more, Jhin was astonished how unswerving Thresh always seemed to be at least on the outside. 

Pyle made a sneery clicking sound with his tongue. “You wanna throw me out for a good smelling whore, aye?” He asked while he narrowed his eyes in pure resentment. Jhin froze; hearing these words hurt him deep inside. Far beyond than just his injured pride. He had no clue why he suddenly felt so baleful. He came to the assumption whatever was the cause of his indescribable miserable feeling was to be found somewhere hidden in the depth of his memories. Something, he wasn’t sure if he was willing to remember someday in the future. 

“Watch your mouth, Pyke.” Thresh sounded calm and reprehensive. There was still that lingering dark tone of a very dreadful promise lurking in his voice. Far away from being patient and forgiving. Jhin had the odd misgiving to believe he had witnessed something similar yet so different before. It was the same unsettling vibe Kalista gave off when speaking and what connected them far more than just sharing a kinship with each other.

Thresh was angry.

A dark and unnatural rage, flaring underneath the surface and slowly creeping its way out of a profound abyss. Not wild and rampaging like the one of his sister. It was the kind of anger, which filled the room with merciless, cruel cold. One, that was not made to kill quickly in a singular strike, but rich and promising a slow and painful death. 

His realization brought him nothing but a cold shiver. Jhin felt something that was familiar to awe, but too complex to be just fear. He didn’t know if Thresh was just livid about the sheer lack of respect he had to deal with from someone who called himself his friend or if he indeed had no tolerance left for such an insult, but he really wished to find out about it for he feared his false and woefully expectation was going to trick him. Furthermore, he hated to be not in the best position to defend himself in the first place and had to rely on someone else to do this just for him. Someone he didn’t even know for more than two days. 

He saw Pyke shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Then he gave of a small snicker of amusement. “Or what? Ya going to kill me, laddie?” He asked in a defying, almost provoking tone. 

“Get out.” Thresh demanded sharply. 

Pyke snorted. “Make me.” 

“GET OUT!” Thresh yelled. It was loud and haunting. Dark and sinister cold. So completely unexpected that it made Jhin tremble in his bones. The room filled with dreadful silence. Jhin could feel Kalista’s hand still on his own. From his position he witnessed how Pyke had frozen entirely. He just stood there, staring with a blank expression. Then, out of nowhere, he broke from his state of dreadlock. In a blink of an eye he rushed hurriedly out of the room. 

No one dared to speak or move what appeared to him must be more than a few minutes. Jhin heard only the beat of his own heart. 

Finally Fiora sighed while closing her book. She raised from her chair to grab Neeko by her hand. Together they went to the kitchen where Eve was still occupied with cooking. The girl seemed to be utterly unimpressed by the situation, but was willing to leave with her anyway. Jhin wondered if Eve had actually heard Thresh, but assumed that if that would have been the case, she would be already here immediately.   
Thresh gave of a long and stretched sigh filled with regret. His body shifted like he lost a great amount of unbearable tension. “I will go after him.” He sounded deeply distressed and strangely exhausted. 

Kalista narrowed her eyes. “You better fix this.” She simply said; her voice a mixture of disappointment and mockery. Thresh nodded silently in agreement before he left. 

After Thresh was gone, Kalista sighed frustrated. “Come, boy. Dinner is waiting for us.” She said with an ambiguous tone of voice that was either resignation or anger. Or maybe both. 

And Jhin knew that was his fault. He was the only cause for all this unnecessary trouble they had to deal with. It was nothing that he was able to fix; his existence alone was cursed to the point that he inflicted incidents between them to the point where he made Thresh to yell. On top of that yell at someone who was meant to be his friend. “I am sorry.” He said in lack of more words to express his worries. Jhin really felt sorry. Yet there was basically nothing he could do about it to make up for this mess. Perhaps he could start with talking to Thresh instead of his sister to express his dismay. That would be a start at least. 

Kalista frowned for a second as if she did not understand what he was talking about. Then she blinked in realization as she rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb. “Don’t worry.” She rasped soothing. “This is not your fault.” For a moment he believed her face lightened up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poor Pyke I did him dirty. I bet he is actually a cool guy with a soft heart but Jhin keeps to ruin everything.  
> Did I say there was a plot coming up? It is. Soon. Soon. Just be patient! It's right around the corner.


	9. How About Cake For Dinner?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *no CWs for this chapter

Late at night as he was still awake and there was no hope left he would find sleep soon, Jhin made a strange discovery. This old house, already big and commodious at daytime, seemed far bigger and enormous when everything inside fell silent and dark. It felt like it was about to stretch and bend to provide enough space for his endless wandering thoughts and was willing to fill every unknown room and every last corner with his countless worries. And Jhin had a lot to think about. Not only the fortunate and less fortunate events of the entire day; too much for someone like him to deserve to go through equally, but also the daunting insight he got on his own life. A life that felt strange to him like it was a long way away. Lost and forgotten and just something he had just imagined but never experienced in the first place. 

Jhin wasn’t the type of person naive to believe he had just witnessed an odd and bizarre encounter of daydream in the afternoon. For something so preposterous and grotesque it felt too real and overwhelming only to be revealed to be far from reality. It was real. It felt too strong to not be anything else but real. It had to be real for otherwise he had to doubt the last remnants of his already broken and splintered mind. 

He was a murderer and at one point, that was an undeniable fact, he had to reveal this little secret. If it would be evoked by unwitting lapse or forceful confession he couldn’t tell and it didn’t matter. The devastating result would still be the same. Today he had witnessed what anger Thresh behold when he sensed the smallest amount of disrespect and he had shown that he wasn’t going to recoil from unleashing it upon someone who he called a friend. What was he capable of doing to someone, who had not only lied to him on many occasions, but also concealed to be a killer? What would he do to someone who exploited his thoughtfulness and was willing to deceive him for the mere purpose of vested interest? 

The whole thing was confusing on his own, he had to admit. He didn’t ask for being protected in front of anyone else; especially not in front of one of Thresh’s friends and he did so nonetheless. His reaction seemed so unnatural and enormous that it barely made sense. 

Jhin had no explanation why the man called Pyke reacted in such an impulsive way towards him. He was sure he would get one if he found the courage to ask and perhaps it would have made sense in the end. 

The question was if he actually wanted an explanation at all or if he would rather prefer to hold a grudge for good reasons against him, because it felt right to do so. 

The only issue, which was about to diminish his own anger and aversion was the simple offspring of Jhin being the mere cause for all of this. It was his fault; he had at least the haunting feeling that this was exactly the truth. Kalista wasn’t very convincing in her faltering attempt to be reassuring and she had no need to be sincere. Jhin assumed the moment he decided to speak out, it would increase the possibility of having to face the blame. Something he wasn’t able to deal with right now or anytime soon. He felt already too weak for his own taste and his pride won’t allow him to show more of his involuntary established shortcomings. He didn’t want to turn himself into a victim at all cost for he was none to begin with. 

Once more he wished this man had just left him wherever he had found him in the first place; which one dared to tell him but to be fair, Jhin didn’t even dare to ask on his own. 

“Can’t sleep?” 

Jhin froze. He peeked into the darkness in the room and found Neeko sitting in her usual spot by the window like last time she spent a visit. Relief washed over him when his mind was fully able to comprehend it was just her and no one else. Yet, he had to ask himself how she was able to sneak up on him once more without him noticing at all. Was he really that occupied by his own thoughts that he didn’t recognize her entering the room? Maybe Neeko just possessed the impressive and unsettling ability to creep up on people. He wondered if that was a skill she inherited from her part time father or if it was actually the other way around. 

“No.” He answered right away. At this point there was literally no reason left for trying to hide his issues. She had already caught him once, and trying to avoid her simple recognition seemed childish to him. “It seems you can’t sleep as well?” 

She hoped from the window bench and narrowed her eyes. “Oovi-Kat sleep in trees, as I told you.” That answered his question to his own surprise quite a lot, he had to admit. Jhin recognized that she seemed deeply offended by his involuntary inattention and it appeared to him, she took it for plain disinterest. 

He reminded himself that he was still speaking with a young girl instead of an adult even though she barely looked like one and tried to recall being a bit more sensitive. “My apologies. How could I forget?”

Neeko shrugged like she tried to imply that she didn’t care about his mindlessness anymore. Then she started to search inside her pockets for something in a frantic manner. “Neeko has something for you.” She said and excitement bubbled out of her voice. “It will help you sleep better until I show you how to sleep in a tree.” Her tone sounded so optimistic that Jhin didn’t dare to even think about negotiating with her in any kind of way; only for the sake of not destroying her beliefs. Her words raised his curiosity to get behind what she was aiming for. 

For a moment he wondered what else she was carrying around with her that it took her so long to find what she was looking for. When she finally found it deep inside the abyss of her pockets, she twitched in joy. A smile crawled on her face, before she held a small box in one of her colorful hands. It was plain white and from the size of a ring box that for a second Jhin thought it was indeed just that. In the darkness of the room he couldn’t make out of what kind of material it was made of. Without a word she just placed the box on the nightstand and switched the bedside light on for a better look. It appeared to him that Neeko just reminded herself that he was not able to see clearly in the dark like herself. “Fio made it for me when she thought I was …” She paused for a moment and wrinkled her forehead. “What do you call it when you get sad from being far away from home?” She asked puzzled.

He tried for a guess. “Homesick?” 

Neeko nodded. “Ah yes!” She exclaimed. “What a strange word. How could Neeko ever get sick of home?” Then she shrugged once more as to indicate that she didn’t need an answer to that before she continued. “Neeko thought you would like it to spend you some company. You seem like you need it much more than Neeko does now.” She explained and her voice switched fluently from excitement to a more affectionate tone with every word. 

Jhin frowned as he eyed the white box with suspicion. He really had a clue what this little thing could do to actually provide some help, but he enjoyed the kind gesture and that she had taken her time to think about him. He also felt a little bit foolish by the time he realized he was about to grow fond of a quirky girl only because of the reason that she had spent her time to think about a way to make him feel better. 

It was very obvious that she got aware of his confused look. He hadn’t put much effort into it to hide it anyway. Instead of pointing it out, she simply grinned while opening the box to reveal its mysterious secret. 

Inside sat a golden bird on a tiny, filigrant crafted twig. With small leaves, made of tiny crystal shards. At the base of the coffret were a frog, barely bigger than his thumbnail, resting lazily inside a water lily. It was so neatly handworked that he thought the whole figurine would break just by looking at it for too long. He blinked in astonishment. It was utterly twee, the kind of thing that someone would truly gift to no one else than a girl out of pure affection, yet absolutely adorable to just look at. “That’s … very pretty.” He said sincerely for he had no reason to lie. It was really pretty. “Thank you.” Jhin couldn’t resist smiling. Her nice touch was just too empathic and heart-warming for an attempt to ignore. The feeling, which was about to rise from deep inside him was strange and overwhelming. “That’s so sweet of you.” He didn’t remember the last time someone had done something like this to him and in lack of his memories he assumed something like this had never occurred to him for the feeling was very unfamiliar. He gave the coffret another look in nothing but awe; still smiling in what must appear to be a madman to the small lizard. 

Besides him Neeko gave off a small giggle as if she was excellently good in sensing that he had literally no clue how this cute gem was about to offer him joy aside from looking pretty. She was right. Jhin just didn’t find the courage to ask. “It plays music.” She explained with a big smile. For a brief moment Jhin felt embarrassed for not figuring out this secret on his own. Now that she had told him, it seemed obvious. “It plays every music you can imagine.” She added excited and her tail started wiggling. 

Jhin tilted his head to narrow the box with a better look without going for the attempt to touch it. “How?” He asked skeptically. As he realized his question was misleading, he tried to be more specific in what he actually meant. “Would you like to show me?” For his interest was not about to know how something like this was possible to begin with but rather how it was used. The Cosmic Court was still a place filled with magic and wonders. It was different from the familiar kind he knew from Ionia, but he could sense it nonetheless and he was curious enough to find out how Ashe The First had been able to channel and bend raw magical energy to fuel all of her inventions of technology and machines. It was told she did so to aim for a realm that was stable enough to exist without the dependence of Ora as the ultimate key resource of all existence. Jhin would like to get to know if any of these stories were true or just made up interference to let the people believe in the Cosmic Curt being a far more better faction than the Demaxian Empire would ever be. 

“Easy.” Neeko disturbed his train of thoughts gleefully. “All you have to do is to give the froggie a soft rub.” She explained but restrained from a demonstration to prove her words. “They are Neeko’s favorite, you know? Frogs. Neeko loves them.” She said instead; her voice full of childlike admiration and something Jhin could only describe as pure bliss. 

He watched her as she was about to crawl over the floor all around the bed. Then she hopped onto the sheets to roll herself up. “I wonder why.” He said with a hint of interest. 

Neeko blinked slowly. Her eyes shifted in color. From gold to blue and purple and back to her golden shade. Jhin realized that her morphing wasn’t something she did on purpose. It came natural to her; like she wasn’t even aware of actually doing it and he pushed aside the uncomfortable feeling of seeing his own strange looking eyes and being reminded that he had changed so drastically. 

“Guess it’s time for another story then.” She grinned eagerly before she cleared her throat in an exaggerated manner. “This is the story about …” Neeko paused for a moment, humming thoughtfully. “An old friend.” She finally finished. 

Jhin raised an eyebrow. “And old friend?” He would like to know what part a frog was going to play in such a story and he came to the conclusion, he must be actually tired and exhausted that his mind was indeed for nothing else than innocent nonsense. 

“Yes.” She answered with certainty. “And the best friend an Oovi-Kat can have.”   
She continued softly while leaning closer to switch the light off. 

*

The next morning Jhin woke in cold sweat. Shreds of his slowly vanishing dream mincing through the room in purple, sinister shades. Surrounding him, staring down from above with golden, lifeless faces before they lazily evaporated first from his vision and then after a moment from his mind.

He blinked, drifting gently back into reality and exhaled the crushing dread inside his heart with every shallow breath. He sighed deeply, feeling the almost refreshing cold of his fear being replaced by nasty heat. For a small moment he thought he had at least escaped the living nightmare he was trapped inside if there was already no way to get out from the ones nesting in the back of his mind. But he had to realize with a gloomy disappointment none would leave him so soon. 

At least the music box was indeed helpful. No matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t able to remember the ghastly pictures of his dreams in full detail and he would rather believe it that the gift Neeko has brought him had done it’s wonderful magic trick instead of simply coming to the conclusion he was just desperately trying to suppress everything that was about to lurk in the dark abyss of his memories. 

The girl was right. It did indeed play every piece of music he would come up with as if the small box was able to recognize every tune he was able to think of and when he was about to remember the slightest vision of his encounter within his dream, his head replaced it with the melody it had played the night before. Perhaps it was less the offspring of magic itself and more a side effect of his mind seeking for repression. 

Thinking of Neeko, he rolled on his side only to find his bed empty aside from him again. Seconds later, he realized his room was empty in general and relief cast out of him. He sighed once more; at ease and reassured. No one was trying to awkwardly surprise him this morning and spared him of a range of embarrassing moments. Jhin almost dared to believe that this could be the best day of his unfortunate journey so far. 

He allowed himself to just rest a few more minutes. He was still tired and according to the alarm clock on the nightstand it was far too early to even think about leaving bed. He couldn’t have slept more than a couple of hours. 

When Jhin felt the nagging feeling growing stronger with every passing minute, he decided it would be a wise choice to finally leave bed and get ready before the overwhelming effect of his annoying condition could get a chance to bother him more than necessary. Aside from that he didn’t dare to risk drifting off to slumber yet again since he didn’t know if he would avoid the nightmares a second time. 

When he was finally dressed and felt prepared enough to face the chaotic members of this strange house, it was about time to join for breakfast. Jhin hated eating so early in the morning, but he expected that at least his presence in the kitchen was mandatory. 

“Good morning!” Neeko chirped from her place, grinning treacherous from ear to ear. “Did you sleep well?” She asked in a tone that was either mocking or curious, which Jhin failed to determine. 

“I did. Thank you.” He answered with a timid smile. 

Evelynn narrowed her eyes while switching her glance between them in turns. Then she just sighed without a word and turned around to stir some eggs in a very vigorous manner. Jhin noticed with astonishment that she wore heels even when cooking. 

His face must have given off the impression of being confused by her actions. “Don’t mind ‘er. She is not in a good mood today.” Fiora explained with an amused smile on her face.

Kalista sighed. “You don’t say.” She said with a blank expression as she filled her cup with coffee. 

“Oh, so we get some cake for dinner!” Neeko beamed with a smile while bending over the table to reach for an apple. When she leaned back again, she hesitated for a moment as if she just realized that she might explain herself a bit more detailed. “When Eve is angry, she always bakes a cake. Or she makes dessert.” She threw the apple from one hand into the other, being more interested in playing with it instead of eating. 

Eve snatched the apple out of the air once Neeo was about to repeat her action. “Maybe I should turn you into a cake. I heard little Neekos taste just so delicious.” She said in a sweet voice. Jhin failed to recognize any indicator of Eve indeed being furious. She sounded quite the same as usual, but when she placed the apple back on the table in front of Neeko that it caused a blunt noise, he was convinced enough to believe them. 

Aside from Eve’s more or less obvious shift in mood, no one was about to actually talk about the previous events from last evening. Even at dinner no one had dared to come up with what had happened and Jhin failed to realize the reason for such a behavior though he had to admit that not having to face the consequences and the outcome was actually relieving. 

Neeko pouted at the apple. “Don’t be silly, Evie. Everyone knows Neeko tastes very, very bad.” She explained in a voice that reminded Jhin of a very precocious kid. He couldn’t resist the small smile that was about to find its way on his face. 

Thresh raised his head from his notepad. “Eve, will you not turn my daughter into a cake at least for today, please?” He asked and as he didn’t get a response because the woman seemed to completely ignore him, he turned his attention at him instead. “Jhin, would you mind joining me for afternoon tea?” 

It took him a moment to answer. He really didn’t want to for no particular reason even though he had nothing else to do the whole day. He simply didn’t feel well enough to be alone with Thresh inside his office; especially not after what happened yesterday. He worried about the possibility that the man was going to lecture him, which just made sense since it was his fault at least at some point for this situation to escalate so quickly. But there was a small voice inside his head, which told him it would be a very ill-advised idea to come up with a weak excuse to avoid his telling-off. 

Jhin came to the conclusion that Thresh had a great talent to emphasize an indirect order like it was nothing but a sweet request. It made it hard to tell the difference between him being strict and demanding or sincerely attentive and it was even harder for Jhin to refuse any of his offers. Just out of the small fear, he could risk to either be ungrateful and impolite towards this man or dismiss his orders and be disrespectful while doing so. Jhin had the tiny yet unsettling feeling that he would follow everything this man commanded him to do, only to be approved and seen as obedient. It was thrilling and led him to the inappropriate musing how far his own will of being pleasing would go. 

“Yes, of course.” He answered before he took a seat next to Fiora. It was obvious that these people had no defined seating plan and he assumed that whoever wakes up first is about to decide and everyone else just sat where they felt like it. 

Thresh lips twitched into a brief smile. “Very well.” Jhin tried to not interpret too much into his reaction. 

The moment he sat down, Eve placed a muffin on his plate that looked like it was stuffed with something of what he assumed to be carrots. “Eat, sweetie. So you grow big and strong.” Jhin eyed the muffin with rising suspicion and wondered who on Runeterra would bake vegetables into pastries. 

Neeko grinned over the table pointing at the muffin. “See? Desserts.” She whispered in an ineffectual loud tone of voice. She twisted her mouth in something that seemed to be envy while staring back at her untouched apple. Jhin wished he had a small chance to swap with her but he was sure that Eve would not approve such a try and he dared not to risk an attempt under her watchful eyes. 

Eve gave her a look that was far too dark in comparison to her smile. 

“Eat your apple, young lady.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am very sorry but Jhin and Neeko slowly starting to develop some kind of friendship is my addiction

**Author's Note:**

> I write this actually entirely for my best friend and I just upload this mess only bc he said more people should enjoy Dad!Thresh so here it is


End file.
